PAU AND MARC GASOL of Spain have been voted the first brothers to start in the NBA All-Star Game, while Toronto’s Kyle Lowry made a late surge in fan balloting and will start for the Eastern Conference.
Lowry passed Dwyane Wade and will start alongside Washington’s John Wall, the first time the East has had two first-time starters at guard since 2000.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry made his own late surge to pass LeBron James as the overall leading vote-getter, the league announced on Thursday.
Kobe Bryant was also voted to start at West guard, though that’s in jeopardy because of a torn right rotator cuff.
Chicago’s Pau Gasol will start up front for the East along with James and Carmelo Anthony for the February 15 game in New York.
Memphis’ Marc Gasol joins New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin in the West frontcourt.
Tom and Dick Van Arsdale played in the 1970 and 1971 games, but the Gasols, once traded for each other, are the first brothers to be chosen to start.
The star of the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors, Curry ended up with more than 1.5 million votes, more than 42 000 ahead of James, who had a 13 285-vote lead over the sharpshooter at the last update. Curry, who just two years ago was an All-Star snub, becomes the first Warriors player elected to consecutive starts since Chris Mullin in 1991-92.
His partner in the backcourt is up in the air after the Lakers revealed Bryant’s injury earlier Thursday. Though the severity of the injury is unknown, many rotator cuff injuries require surgery and several months of rehabilitation.
That could rule Bryant out of his 17th All-Star appearance, second all-time behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s 19. Bryant’s first was in 1998 at Madison Square Garden, site of this year’s game.
The NBA changed the ballot this year to include all active players, rather than just 60 per conference. The results included five first-time starters and ten starters from ten different teams.
And the fans left out some of the usual faces such as Wade, Miami teammate Chris Bosh, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, and the Clippers’ Chris Paul.
