Lakers forward Kobe Bryant #24 and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott in the 2nd quarter. The Los Angeles Lakers played the New Orleans Pelicans in a game at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA 1/12/2016 (photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group)

The results seem as expected as Kobe Bryant shooting the ball. The Lakers’ 37-year-old star has maintained a firm edge in NBA All-Star votes, the third returns released on Thursday showing he has a league-leading 1,533,432 votes.

A vast discrepancy has emerged between Bryant and his other All-Star counterparts, including Golden State’s Stephen Curry (1,206,467), Cleveland’s LeBron James (830,345), Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (774,782), Indiana’s Paul George (569,947) and Golden State’s Draymond Green (499,947).

Bryant has every intention in playing what will be his 18th and final NBA All-Star appearance on Feb. 14 in Toronto. Although that obviously hinges on his health with his sore right shoulder and sore right Achilles, the Lakers’ latest proposal to shut him down for one to two weeks would leave Bryant enough time to participate.

Bryant is currently expected to start along with Curry, Durant, Green and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (609,901 votes). Bryant is voted as a frontcourt player instead of a guard since he has played the small forward position for most of this season. The Western Conference All-Stars are slated to start against James, Miami’s Dwyane Wade (736,732 votes), George, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving (399,757) and New York’s Carmelo Anthony (368,336).

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com