After setting a new record for most seasons played with one franchise, Kobe Bryant officially announced he will retire at the end of the 2015-16 NBA season. While the five-time champion had early season struggles and there were questions if he should be an All-Star, fans around the world have responded.
Although Bryant may have to rest a couple weeks due to a sore Achilles, he remains the leading vote-getter after the latest returns. With Bryant heading to his 18th appearance, fan voting ends on Monday, January 18.
Here is the press release via Lakers.com:
NEW YORK– The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony has moved into third place in the Eastern Conference frontcourt and the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green maintains a narrow lead for the third starting spot in the Western Conference frontcourt based on the third returns of NBA All-Star Voting 2016 presented by Verizon.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James remain the overall leaders in voting to determine the starters for the NBA All-Star Game.
Bryant tops all players with 1,533,432 votes. He is followed in the West frontcourt by the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (774,782) and Green (499,947), who leads the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (487,626) by 12,321 votes. The top two spots among West guards still belong to Curry (1,206,467), who is second among all players, and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (609,901).
James (830,345) continues to lead all East players. The Indiana Pacers’ Paul George (569,947) remains second in the East frontcourt behind James, while Anthony (368,336) has overtaken the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond (361,307) for third – a difference of 7,029 votes. Wade (736,732) and the Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving (399,757) are still the leading vote-getters among East guards, followed by the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry (367,472) and the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler (356,561).