Bryant, Howard, Paul and Griffin to start in NBA All-Star game

Two Lakers and two Clippers were selected Thursday as staters for the Western Conference All-Star team.

Kobe Bryant received 1.59 million votes, the most of any player in the fan balloting, as the Laker star was chosen to his 15th NBA All-Star team. His Lakers teammate Dwight Howard was also selected as a starter for the West squad. This is Howard’s seventh All-Star selection.

Clippers Chris Paul (sixth All-Star team) and Blake Griffin (third All-Star selection) will also start for the West. Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant will complete the starting five for the West.

This year the “center” position was dropped from All-Star ballots. Instead, fans voted for two backcourt and three frontcourt players.

The starters for the Eastern Conference All-Stars are: Dwyane Wade (Miami) and Rajon Rondo (Boston) in the backcourt, and LeBron James (Miami), Carmelo Anthony (New York) and Kevin Garnett (Boston) in the frontcourt.

Reserves for the All-Star teams will be selected by NBA head coaches.

The All-Star game will be played Feb. 17 in Houston.

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