So much for that "career suicide" everyone was talking about.
Despite five months of negative press, LeBron James is still a popular guy. So popular, in fact, that he received the second-most All-Star votes in the Eastern Conference and and third-most overall.
The first released results showed that James received 607,994 votes. That trails only Kobe Bryant (722,682) and Dwight Howard (611,561).
The most and least surprising player who currently leads at his position is Yao Ming, who has played in just five games this season but has received more than twice as many votes as the next center in line, Andrew Bynum, who himself has only played in two games. Ming, of course, has millions of fans in China to vote for him, while thousands who voted for Bryant and Pau Gasol likely checked off Bynum's name in an attempt to start five Lakers.
Though there's plenty of time left for the voting to change, here is how the teams would look if voting ended today, along with how many votes each player has received:
Eastern Conference
Dwyane Wade (570,489)
Rajon Rondo (497,141)
LeBron James (607,994)
Kevin Garnett (456,111)
Dwight Howard (611,561)
Western Conference
Kobe Bryant (722,682)
Chris Paul (386,649)
Kevin Durant (470,881)
Pau Gasol (390,808)
Yao Ming (430,984)
