Kobe Bryant leads all players in All-Star Game voting returns weeks after announcing he will retire at the end of the season. Bryant has received 719,235 votes.

Stephen Curry and LeBron James rank second and third with 510,202 and 357,937 votes apiece.

Bryant and Curry are joined on the current projected starters by Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin.

On the current Eastern Conference projections with James are Paul George, Andre Drummond, Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving.

Eastern Conference

Frontcourt
1 LeBron James (Cle) 357,937
2 Paul George (Ind) 283,785
3 Andre Drummond (Det) 148,278
4 Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 132,119
5 Pau Gasol (Chi) 109,585
6 Kevin Love (Cle) 92,177
7 Chris Bosh (Mia) 91,896
8 Kristaps Porzingis (NYK) 85,606
9 Hassan Whiteside (Mia) 72,923
10 Giannis Antetokounmpo (Mil) 25,926
11 Jonas Valanciunas (Tor) 12,341
12 Joakim Noah (Chi) 10,808
13 Paul Millsap (Atl) 10,501
14 Marcin Gortat (Was) 9,443
15 DeMarre Carroll (Tor) 8,885

Guards
1 Dwyane Wade (Mia) 300,595
2 Kyrie Irving (Cle) 138,191
3 Kyle Lowry (Tor) 128,131
4 Jimmy Butler (Chi) 111,220
5 John Wall (Was) 103,094
6 Derrick Rose (Chi) 72,709
7 DeMar DeRozan (Tor) 69,042
8 Jeremy Lin (Cha) 61,832
9 Isaiah Thomas (Bos) 45,014
10 Nicolas Batum (Cha) 20,596

Western Conference

Frontcourt
1 Kobe Bryant (LAL) 719,235
2 Kevin Durant (OKC) 349,473
3 Blake Griffin (LAC) 182,107
4 Kawhi Leonard (SA) 164,521
5 Draymond Green (GS) 160,350
6 Anthony Davis (NO) 156,161
7 Tim Duncan (SA) 127,543
8 DeMarcus Cousins (Sac) 101,930
9 Dwight Howard (Hou) 66,598
10 LaMarcus Aldridge (SA) 65,019
11 Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 56,377
12 DeAndre Jordan (LAC) 49,696
13 Enes Kanter (OKC) 47,806
14 Harrison Barnes (GS) 43,343
15 Kevin Garnett (Min) 42,285

Guards
1 Stephen Curry (GS) 510,202
2 Russell Westbrook (OKC) 267,699
3 Chris Paul (LAC) 146,335
4 Klay Thompson (GS) 138,587
5 James Harden (Hou) 135,531
6 Rajon Rondo (Sac) 66,164
7 Andre Iguodala (GS) 62,407
8 Damian Lillard (Por) 47,615
9 Manu Ginobili (SA) 42,413
10 Tony Parker (SA) 40,693

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points in a 111-107 road win by the Los Angeles Lakers at the Denver Nuggets.

Bryant was asked if the performance gives him second thoughts about his retirement.

"Zero. Not even an inkling," he said.

Bryant also played strong defense on Will Barton, who had 23 points in the first half.

"I can still play a little bit," said Bryant. "It was a great test for me tonight to see if I could still play both ends of the floor."

Given Kobe Bryant's history growing up in Italy as the son of Jellybean Bryant, the possibility of playing overseas always seemed stronger for him than other stars.

Bryant has given every indication that his retirement from the NBA this season also means he'll retire from professional basketball.

"I would have loved to play overseas for a season," said Bryant. "But it’s not going to happen. I wish I could. But my body won’t let me."

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly to the D-Fenders.

Kelly scored a game-high 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the pair’s first appearance of the season on December 13th. Black finished with a double-double, tallying 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Black and Kelly are expected to be in uniform when the D-Fenders host the Idaho Stampede.

Nick Young and Kobe Bryant have been teammates for over two seasons, but Young hadn't assisted on a made basket by Bryant during all of their minutes together.

Young has averaged less than 2.0 assists per 36 minutes in each of his two-plus seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Adam Silver said he believes Kobe Bryant deserves a place in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.

Bryant recently announced he will retire at the end of the season.

Bryant is a 17-time NBA All-Star and has won the All-Star Game MVP on four separate occasions.

D'Angelo Russell was disappointed about being taken out of the starting lineup but he found more freedom playing without Kobe Bryant.

“You’ve got to be more aggressive," Russell said about being with the second unit.

“There’s just more ball movement,” said Russell. “No disrespect to Kobe, but you just know you have more opportunity because he’s who he is.”

Russell had nine points, three rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.

Byron Scott admitted that Russell and Julius Randle not playing alongside Bryant meant they didn’t “defer as much” to Bryant, a volume shooter.

“When KB is out there, they seem to defer a little bit more to him,” Scott said. “I thought tonight they played a little bit more free. They still made mistakes, but they’re going to make mistakes. They’re young. But I want them to continue to play as hard as they played tonight.”

Kobe Bryant informed Byron Scott of his plans to retire during the middle of a game last Saturday.

"I said, 'KB, I played you 20 minutes in the first half. I'm going to cut those minutes down. I've got to cut them down,'" Scott said after his team's morning shootaround ahead of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. "He said, 'That's good, coach. That's all right. I'm going to announce my retirement after the game.'"

Scott said he was stunned.

"I said, 'What?!'" Scott recalled. "That was the shock part. I was in that state for the rest of the game. Even when I was watching him play [and] I was watching him running up and down, I'm going, 'Did he just tell me [that]?'"

Scott said Bryant's casual demeanor was perhaps most shocking.

"It was so casual. It was kind of cool," Scott said. "[As a] matter [of] fact, he said, 'You're the first to know.' He said, 'Coach, you're the first to know that I'm going to announce my retirement.'

"He was at peace when he told me," Scott added. "That's the only thing I could say. During that game, when I was watching him and putting him [in the game] and taking him out, that's the most relaxed and at peace that I've ever seen him."

Kobe Bryant would love to compete in the Olympics for the United States if he's chosen for their final roster.

“Obviously I grew up overseas and have seen basketball grow globally," said Bryant on Friday. "It’s come so far, so fast. (I) would love nothing more to be in an international environment and be around so many other great athletes one more time. That being said, it’s not something I’m obsessing over, either, because I’ve got to listen to my body, too. If my body can’t do it, there’s no sense in doing it. So God willing, hopefully, if they feel I can make a significant contribution and my body is up for it ... if that’s the case then I would love to play.”

Marc Stein writes that Bryant could be included on the roster similar to Jason Kidd's presence on the 2008 team at the age of 35.

The 11th and 12th men on the team aren't expected to play many minutes.

Byron Scott is largely seen as "an innocent bystander" in the farewell tour of Kobe Bryant, according to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers are unlikely to either fire Scott or bench Bryant despite their struggles.

Scott signed a four-year, $17 million deal with the Lakers in 2014, but the contract is only guaranteed through 16-17.