Kobe Bryant has played all of two games this season, and he hasn’t looked particularly impressive in either. Yet it shouldn’t surprise anybody that the Lakers guard leads all Western Conference backcourt players in early All-Star voting results released Thursday.
Bryant’s 501,215 votes are more than 100,000 more than Chris Paul, who is second among West guards and one of the leading candidates for Most Valuable Player so far. Bryant was third in overall vote-getting behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant, respectively.
Bryant, 35, has been named to every NBA All-Star game since 2000. He missed the Lakers’ first 19 games while recovering from a torn left Achilles, averaging 14.5 points in limited minutes. In a preseason poll, a majority of NBA general managers named Houston’s James Harden, not Bryant, the league’s best shooting guard.
Bryant wasn’t the only star to benefit from his popularity despite his lack of impact on this season. Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who has yet to play after surgery on a torn ACL in February, is sixth among backcourt players in the East with 80,889 votes.
The complete list is below.
East
Frontcourt:
LeBron James (Mia) 609,336
Paul George (Ind) 489,335
Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 424,211
Roy Hibbert (Ind) 208,369
Chris Bosh (Mia) 156,364
Kevin Garnett (BKN) 102,825
Joakim Noah (Chi) 75,229
Jeff Green (Bos) 55,912
Luol Deng (Chi) 54,340
Tyson Chandler (NYK) 51,738
Andre Drummond (Det) 51,351
Carlos Boozer (Chi) 48,745
Paul Pierce (BKN) 45,145
Brook Lopez (BKN) 37,153
Josh Smith (Det) 32,025
Backcourt:
Dwyane Wade (Mia) 396,279
Kyrie Irving (Cle) 365,712
Derrick Rose (Chi) 272,410
John Wall (Was) 124,851
Ray Allen (Mia) 99,464
Rajon Rondo (Bos) 80,889
Deron Williams (BKN) 44,282
George Hill (Ind) 42,536
Evan Turner (Phi) 33,605
Mario Chalmers (Mia) 32,996
West
Frontcourt:
Kevin Durant (OKC) 607,407
Dwight Howard (Hou) 295,120
Blake Griffin (LAC) 292,925
Kevin Love (Min) 275,506
Tim Duncan (SA) 217,271
Anthony Davis (NO) 149,579
Pau Gasol (LAL) 133,199
LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 132,818
Andre Iguodala (GS) 109,745
Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 89,093
Chandler Parsons (Hou) 77,179
DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 60,923
David Lee (GS) 60,015
Kawhi Leonard (SA) 55,023
Omer Asik (Hou) 53,827
Backcourt:
Kobe Bryant (LAL) 501,215
Chris Paul (LAC) 393,313
Stephen Curry (GS) 327,449
Jeremy Lin (Hou) 240,404
James Harden (Hou) 198,667
Russell Westbrook (OKC) 149,065
Tony Parker (SA) 112,423
Ricky Rubio (Min) 63,096
Steve Nash (LAL) 60,782
Damian Lillard (Por) 55,847
