NBA: Kobe Bryant Leads NBA All-star Ballot with 1.3 Million Votes

According to www.nba.com, the second returns of votes for the NBA's 59^th All-star game revealed that Kobe Bryant lead all players with nearly an incredible 1.4 million votes. Unfortunately, at this rate, Bryant has very little chance of breaking Dwight Howard's record of over 3 million votes. Kobe Bryant has earned every single one of these votes to be a part of the league's annual event by winning the 2009 NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers against the Orlando Magic. Bryant currently ranks in at second with an average of nearly 30 points per game behind Carmelo Anthony's 30.4 for the 2009-10 NBA season. Coming in at second place with 1.2 million votes would be last year's most valuable player, LeBron James. James has been filling in his stat sheet consistently by averaging over 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists per game this season. James could possibly be the youngest NBA player ever to reach the 20,000 point plateau if he keeps on scoring at least two thousand points a season for the next three years.

It is just too bad that Kobe Bryant is somewhat ineligible to participate at the Slam Dunk Competition because of the league's rules. If he were allowed to participated, I am sure he would dominate against his younger competitors. LeBron James on the other hand, can participate in these games, but little is known on whether he is 100 percent committed to playing in the 2010 contest. I personally do not think James could compete against this year's participants because of his stocky build. Many of the dunk content's participants are lean and much quicker. Anyway, I still think LeBron James is one of the top five players of the league, if not the world.

It is great to see Kobe Bryant accomplishing so much in his early thirties because most superstars go on the decline right after turning thirty years old. Kobe's success is a lot similar to that of Michael Jordan who also thrived in the NBA throughout his thirties. Bryant's abilities are also similar to Jordan's, but he could be considered as the better three-point shooter. We all know that Bryant will never be like Mike, but one can't help to see some similarities they share. Bryant will likely make the next three All-star games via votes if he remains dominant.