NBA All-Star Game 2016: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant Lead 1st Voting Results

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant led the first voting results for their respective conferences for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, the NBA announced Friday:

Bryant, who is retiring after this season, led all players. Defending league MVP Steph Curry was second in the voting and ahead of all guards, while Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade had the most votes among the Eastern Conference guards.

For Bryant, 37, the game would be his final appearance—and his 18th overall, one behind the record set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—since he announced his retirement after this season earlier in the year. 

"I mean it would be great to play in it. If I'm not in it, I'm not going to beat myself up over that either," Bryant said earlier in December, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. "I'll support the game no matter what. Support the players no matter what."

Bryant added:

"

It would be great, but at the same time I've played in a lot of them, so it's always great to have the younger guys step up and get their opportunities as well. I've played in quite a few. If I'm fortunate to be there, I'll be extremely grateful for that. If I'm not, at the same token, I'll be extremely grateful for the opportunities I've had."

"

On Friday, Bryant commented on the current vote tally, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is also hoping to see Bryant in the All-Star Game, as he told SiriusXM NBA Radio:

Bryant has struggled this season, shooting just 34.4 percent from the field, though he is averaging 17.4 points per game on a young Lakers team.

Meanwhile, Curry topped the All-Star voting last year and went on to be the league MVP and lead the Golden State Warriors to a championship. He has continued his torrid scoring pace from a year ago, pacing the NBA with 31.2 points per game this season, while the Warriors have raced out to the NBA's best record. 

Curry, 27, looks to be on the way to securing another MVP trophy, and he feels he's the league's top player at the moment.

"In my mind, yes. That’s how I have confidence out there that I can play at a high level every night," he answered after being asked if he felt he was the best player in the world, per Sean Gregory of Time. "I don’t get into debates, arguing with people about why I am versus somebody else. I feel like anybody who’s at the level I’m trying to be at, if you don’t think that when you’re on the floor, then you’re doing yourself a disservice."

James, 30, might be the one player who could make a strong argument that he's still the world's best player. He's found himself finishing behind Curry with frequency in the past year, however, coming up second in last year's All-Star voting and leading his Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals a season ago, only to lose to the Warriors.

The NBA will announce the All-Star starters Jan. 21 and the reserves Jan. 28. The All-Star Game will take place Feb. 14 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.