Kobe Bryant will start in his 18th and final All-Star Game after the NBA announced he received the most votes in fan balloting.
Bryant received 1,891,614 votes as a frontcourt player, and will start alongside Golden State’s Stephen Curry (1,604, 325 votes), Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (980,787), San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard (782,339) and Russell Westbrook (772,009), last year’s All-Star Game MVP.
It marks the fourth time Bryant, a four-time All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, has been the league’s leading vote-getter. He announced in November that he will retire after this season, his 20th.
Clippers point guard Chris Paul finished third among Western Conference guards with 624,334 votes, while Clippers center DeAndre Jordan finished 11th among frontcourt players with 269,427 votes.