Kobe Bryant is once again heading to the NBA’s All-Star game for the 13th consecutive season. It was revealed earlier on TNT’s All-Star selection show that he will start for the Western Conference. Additionally, the NBA recently announced that Bryant led all players with 2,380,016 votes.
Bryant heading to his 13th straight All-Star game and is only one more selection behind Jerry West, Karl Malone and Shaquille O’Neal for most consecutive selections; who all played in the special game in an NBA-record 14 straight appearances.
As you can watch in the video to the left, Kobe made his All-Star game debut in 1998 as the youngest All-Star in NBA history in the illustrious Madison Square Garden. The last time Kobe led all players in votes was in 2003. Additionally, this is the 4th straight season where Bryant has led all Western Conference All-Stars in voting.
Even more special, this year’s All-Star game will take place in Los Angeles at the STAPLES Center; the last time this occurred was in 2004.
Kobe has shined multiple times in the All-Star game winning the All-Star MVP trophy three times in his career. The first was in his hometown of Philadelphia in 2002. In 2007, under the bright lights of Las Vegas, Kobe earned the All-Star MVP for the second time. Most recently, Bryant earned co-MVP honors with Shaquille O’Neal in last year’s All-Star game.
