The NBA All-Star ballot has been live for a week now, and the first returns have been announced. In a bit of a surprising development, four of the five starting players on the Western Conference team – if the voting ended today – would be from Los Angeles.
Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are both leading vote getters right now representing the Clippers, while All-Star regular Kobe Bryant, as well as All-Star virgin Andrew Bynum are leading vote-getters in their respective categories.
Obviously this is just the first announcement of leading vote-getters, and there are thousands of more votes pouring in each day. But if these standings do hold up it will be the first time since the Lakers have two starting All-Stars since the team had Bryant and O’Neal in the starting lineup nearly a decade ago.
Your 2012 NBA All-Star starters today: Rose, Wade, LeBron, ‘Melo & Dwight vs. CP3, Kobe, Durant, Blake & Bynum.
— Dime Magazine (@DimeMag) January 12, 2012