The polls are closed and the results are in. Bryant, the five-time National Basketball Association champion who has announced he will retire this year after the conclusion of his 20th season, had paced fan voting for All-Star starters for weeks, despite his own on-court struggles and those of the Lakers. Joining Bryant, Curry, Westbrook and Leonard in the Western Conference starting lineup is Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, an All-Star for the seventh time. It’s hard to see anyone catching up to him, but Lowry, who came from behind to start for the East a year ago, could again make a final push. Just behind Irving was Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, with 367,472 votes.
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The NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on February 15th with the Dunk Contest festivities taking place on Valentine’s Day.
Leonard made a big push in the final week to grab the starting spot, passing Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and holding off a late run by ZaZa Pachulia of the Dallas Mavericks. James, whose 278 All-Star points are two behind Bryant’s record of 280, is joined in the East frontcourt by the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George (711,595) and the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony (567,348).
Carmelo Anthony overtook Andre Drummond in the third returns for the final frontcourt spot, while Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler remained striking distance from Kyrie Irving for the last backcourt spot.
That being said, the usual suspects are all present, as LeBron James and company will be headed to Air Canada Centre next month to be a part of the NBA’s fluffiest weekend of the year.
The starting lineups for each conference will be announced on a special one-hour edition of “NBA Tipoff”, featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
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LeBron James is averaging 25.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.4 steals in the 39 games he has played in the 2015-16 National Basketball Association season. Pinging is now not allowed.
