Lakers’ Bryant leads NBA All-Star Game voting
Published 9:57 pm Friday, December 25, 2015
LOS ANGELES — Doc Rivers feigned disgust when informed by a reporter that Kobe Bryant not only had moved into the frontcourt slot for All-Star voting but also led L.A. Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who is having a much better season.
“What?” Rivers said loudly Friday, prompting laughter from reporters.
Rivers is actually one of Bryant’s biggest backers when it comes to playing in the All-Star game in his final NBA season. It appears that will happen after Bryant led all players in the first voting figures released Friday, his 719,235 votes topping even defending league most valuable player Stephen Curry (510,202).
Griffin was third among Western Conference frontcourt players with 182,107 votes, also trailing Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (349,473). Clippers point guard Chris Paul was third among West guards with 146,335 votes, trailing Curry and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (267,699).
The top three frontcourt players and top two guards in voting from each conference will be the starters in the midseason showcase Feb. 14 at Toronto.
Rivers said he was fine with Bryant’s selection even if it meant the exclusion of a more deserving player such as Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who ranked 12th among West frontcourt players with 49,696 votes.
“It would be awful,” Rivers said of Jordan’s possible exclusion, “but I think Kobe should be on the All-Star team. I think certain guys earn that right and unfortunately for other guys who can’t make it, they have to earn that right too.”
Lakers Coach Byron Scott was taken aback when he heard the distance between Bryant and other players.
“I was like, ‘Whoa.’ That’s pretty good because right now, really I think probably Steph is the most popular player in the NBA,” Scott said.
Bryant was averaging 17.4 points per game but shooting only 34.4 percent before Friday, putting him last among 119 qualifiers for field-goal percentage.
“I think it’s obviously a tribute — I don’t think it has a whole lot to do with this year,” Scott said. “I think it has to do with his body of work.”
