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Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers leads in voting as the NBA announced an update to All-Star balloting on Thursday. Bryant, who is retiring after the season, has 1,262,118 votes - more than 300,000 ahead of reigning MVP Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James has the third-most votes - and leads the Eastern Conference with 636,388 votes.
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James, Indiana's Paul George (457,554) and Detroit's Andre Drummond (261,158) lead the frontcourt voting in the East with New York forward Carmelo Anthony (255,536) next in line. Miami's Dwyane Wade (562,558) and Cleveland's Kyrie Irving (271,094) are the leaders among guards with Toronto's Kyle Lowry (242,276) in close pursuit.
Bryant, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (616,096) and Golden State's Draymond Green (332,223) are the leaders in frontcourt votes in the Western Conference with San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard (330,929) right behind Green. Curry (925,789) and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (479,512) are the top vote-getters among guards.
Voting concludes on Jan. 18. The All-Star Game is Feb. 14 in Toronto.
---Portland shooting guard CJ McCollum sat out Wednesday night's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers because he was accidentally listed as inactive.
McCollum, who is averaging 21 points per game, was not allowed to play even though the Trail Blazers realized the mistake and tried to correct the error before tip-off.
Before each game, the head coach must submit a lineup card listing up to 13 players on the 15-player roster who are active. Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts signed the sheet, which had rookie Luis Montero active instead of McCollum.
Portland officials and an NBA official on site at the game in Portland discussed a resolution and left the decision to allow McCollum to play with Clipper coach Doc Rivers. Rivers rejected the idea of letting the Trail Blazers' second-leading scorer play and the Clippers went on to a 109-98 win.
---Houston Rockets guard Ty Lawson was suspended for three games by the NBA without pay for driving under the influence, the league announced.
Lawson's suspension is for a DUI charge in California from July. It begins with Thursday's game against the Utah Jazz.
This is the second DUI-related suspension in two months for Lawson. He was also suspended for two games last month for a DUI incident in Denver in Jan. 2015.
---The Memphis Grizzlies waived journeyman center Ryan Hollins on Thursday, the club announced.
Hollins, 31, played in four games for Memphis and averaged 1.7 points and 2.0 rebounds. Hollins has played in 490 career games over 10 seasons with nine teams.
---The Phoenix Suns waived point guard Bryce Cotton and power forward Cory Jefferson, the team announced.
Jefferson saw limited playing time with a total of 28 minutes, 12 points and 10 rebounds in six games. His contract would have become guaranteed on Sunday if he were still on the roster.
Cotton was signed on Nov. 25 after All-Star guard Eric Bledsoe was sidelined by knee pain and eventually underwent season-ending surgery. Cotton also has seen limited time with four points and three assists in three games this season.
---The Detroit Pistons assigned guard Spencer Dinwiddie to Grand Rapids of the NBA Development League.
Dinwiddie has played in nine games for the Pistons this season and is averaging 4.4 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists. But the team's No. 3 point guard hasn't seen action in Detroit's last 10 games.
