NEW YORK - From Kobe Bryant to Chris Paul, Blake Griffin to Andrew Bynum, the NBA All-Star Game is shaping up as an LA story.
Two Lakers (Bryant and Bynum) and two Clippers (Paul and Griffin) were voted as starters yesterday for the game, the first time in 15 years that two pairs of teammates have been voted to start for one conference. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant prevented a Los Angeles sweep of the Western Conference starting lineup by earning a forward spot for the Feb. 26 game in Orlando.
Dwight Howard, of the host Magic, was the overall leading vote-getter with 1.6 million. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are going together again from Miami, while Chicago's Derrick Rose and New York's Carmelo Anthony round out the East starters.
Bryant joins Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West and Karl Malone - all onetime Lakers - with his record-tying 14th straight starting nod. He led all West players with nearly 1.6 million votes, and earned his fourth All-Star MVP award last year, equaling Bob Pettit's NBA record.
Starters were chosen by fan balloting. The reserves will be chosen by voting of the head coaches from each conference and will be announced next Thursday.
