By Angelo Kit Guinhawa (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Dec 26, 2015 05:39 AM EST
Tags Kobe Bryant, los angeles lakers, All-Star, 2016, stephen curry, LeBron James, nba

Los Angeles Lakers legend and sure-fire Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant is retiring after this season, and it seems that fans of the Black Mamba want to see him in the All-Star Game for one last time.

According to the report at NBA.com, the counting of the first voting returns for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game showed Kobe garnering a total of 719,235 votes which puts him in a comfortable position for a possible return in the All-Star game.

Kobe is leading the pack by a wide margin with Golden State Warriors star and reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry trailing him with 510,202 votes. Cleveland Cavaliers forward and two-time NBA Champion LeBron James, on the other hand, comes third with 357,937 votes, less than half of the votes received by Kobe.

Previously positioned as guard, this year's All-Star voting was also the first for Kobe to be listed in the Frontcourt of the Western Conference. Along with him are Kevin Durant (349,473) and Blake Griffin (182,107). Guard Russel Westbrook, together with Curry, forms the initial starting five vote-leaders for the West with 267,699.

Indiana Pacers' Paul George (285,785) and Andre Drummond (148,278) pace the East line-up together with guards Dwyane Wade (300,595) and Kyrie Irving (138,191) who just recently returned after recovering from a kneecap injury.

In the report by ESPN, Kobe shared that he was shocked to learn that he was leading the All-Star voting by such a huge gap.

"Yes. Yes. Listen, I was making a little coffee run this morning, got some gas, and decided to just go on Instagram and peruse and [I] saw the damn votes, and I was like, 'What the hell?' Shocked doesn't do it justice," Kobe said.

He, however, cited that it is "exciting" and he is thankful for the votes from the fans.

Kobe already had 17 All-Star selections -- a record second to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 19. The 20-year NBA veteran is also the leading All-Star game scorer with 280 points.

Before the NBA Christmas game, the 37-year-old Kobe is averaging 17.4 points a game along with 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. However, despite having his worst career season with 34 percent shooting brought by the challenges of father time, Kobe expressed that he is still interested in playing in the All-Star game.

"I'll have plenty of time off coming up. I enjoy trying to play as much as I can. If physically I can't play, if I'm not able to play, [then] I physically just can't. But if I'm able, I'm all for it. It would be fun to go out there and play with the guys and kind of hang around with them one more time," Kobe shared via ESPN.

The 65th NBA All-Star Game will be held on Feb. 14, 2016 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. Fans can still vote by following this link. The aforementioned NBA.com report also contains other ways to cast a vote.

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