NBA All Star: First Wave of Results Are In
NBA stars have their eyes set on Toronto for the All Star game in February.By Ryan RodriguezOn December 25th, the NBA released the first returns of the fan votes which picks the starters for the Associations mid season exhibition game. People always get up in arms about the fans not picking the exact 10 best players fromt he current season, but if you take a step back and realize that all this game is is an exhibition, you can see why it doesn’t matter who they pick. In the end, this game is about fun and letting the fans pick who gets to start, is part of the fun and the NBA understands that. Even if the fans sometimes pick players who aren’t totally deserving, which we will get into in the slides that follow, forcing players at the ends of the All Star conversation to miss out, the best of the best do get in and that is what matters most. With only about one month left to vote, we will no doubt see a few names moving around, but usually the people that start out at the top stay there through the duration of the voting. Now lets dive into what the first release looks like.
#1 Kobe leads the votes
Lets get this out of the way immediately. Once Kobe announced he was retiring at the end of the season, it was a lock that he would be the leading vote getter and be a starter in the All Star game for the West. Its unfortunate for someone like Kawhi Leonard, currently 4thin the Western Conference frontcourt voting, who has emerged as a legit MVP candidate while Kobe slogs through his worst season to date, but Kawhi will have other opportunities to start All Star games.
What is a little surprising about Kobes votes is he is the leading vote getter in the entire NBA (719,235), otherwise known as more than LeBron James and Kevin Durant combined. Anyone who has watched the Lakers this season know that Kobe isnt playing anywhere close to All Star level, though he has picked up his play of late to a respectable abiltiy, but this is more to celebrate a surefire first ballot Hall of Fame career. What I hope happens is Kobe is voted in as a starter as a lifetime achievement type of award, and then commissioner Adam Silver steps in and adds a 13thspot to the West All Star roster. Then Kobe gets in but doesnt really take one of the 12 spots on the team from a deserving player.