Trickle-down effect of Kobe being listed in frontcourt in All-Star voting

The NBA opened up the 2016 All-Star voting on Thursday, and arguably the biggest surprise was Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant being listed as a frontcourt player.

Bryant, of course, has been listed as a shooting guard since he entered the league in 1996, but because of the rapid development of Jordan Clarkson, he’s shifted to small forward this season. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Bryant has played 88 percent of his minutes at the 3 this season.

OK, that’s fair. But there may be another motive here.

Bryant is a lock to make the team, regardless of his position. Last season, Bryant totaled 1,152,402 votes, good for third in the West behind Stephen Curry (1,513,324) and Anthony Davis (1,369,911), according to Basketball-Reference.com. And it’s reasonable to expect the same this year, especially since it’s Bryant's final season, and another All-Star Game would be icing on the cake.

The problem, for those who would quibble with his inclusion, is that Bryant is clearly not producing like an All-Star. By any statistical or objective measure, Bryant has been one of the worst players in the league this season. Not just bad, but terrible. Over his past two healthy seasons, Bryant put up borderline All-Star production, so it was semi-justifiable that he kept getting voted in. This season, it's nothing more than a lifetime achievement award. And maybe that's fair. Commissioner Adam Silver seems to be fine with it:

The All-Star Game starting lineup is determined by the fans, and the fans want to see one of the greatest players in a celebratory exhibition game for a final time. So the NBA did the smart thing. By listing Bryant as a frontcourt player, the league ensures that the West's crowded backcourt is determined more fairly, while instead having Bryant intrude on the shallower frontcourt candidates.

After the three starting frontcourt players and two backcourt players, the NBA mandates that there are three frontcourt players, two backcourt players and two wild-card spots on the bench. The wild-card spots are typically split between frontcourt and backcourt players, though it is not required and obviously depends on the season and the candidate pool. With that said, there are typically fewer backcourt spots (a maximum of 6 and a minimum of 4) compared with frontcourt spots (a maximum of 8 and a minimum of 6).

The West is particularly loaded in the backcourt this season: Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard, to name a few. Curry will start -- he was the leading vote-getter last season, and has only grown in popularity -- and Harden will probably join him (he was third in backcourt voting last season), leaving Westbrook and Paul as the two most likely to snag the backup backcourt positions.

In the frontcourt, one of the leading candidates to be voted in -- Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin -- will sacrifice their spot for Bryant. Among the three, Griffin is the candidate most likely to get bumped. Davis totaled nearly 1.4 million votes last season, as did Durant in 2013-14, his last healthy season. Griffin has only totaled more than 1 million once, and that was his rookie season. He appears to be the odd man out.

After Griffin, who's obviously in as a reserve, the most deserving frontcourt players are Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Dirk Nowitzki and DeMarcus Cousins. Leonard should be a lock. Green should be, too, as he has clearly been the second-best Warrior, and one of the greatest regular-season teams of all time deserves at least two All-Stars. His numbers don't pop out at you, but he's established himself as arguably a top-15 in the league at this point. That gives us our three frontcourt reserves.

So, if Curry, Harden, Westbrook and Paul make the four backcourt spots, and Durant, Davis, Bryant, Griffin, Leonard and Green claim the six frontcourt spots, there are two-wild card spots remaining.

With apologies to Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Jordan, Derrick Favors, and a number of other players, those two spots will likely come down to Dirk Nowitzki, DeMarcus Cousins, Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson. The key is that there's flexibility at this point. Two wild-card sports means any combination of bigs and guards, which allows for adjustment as the season progresses.

If the Mavericks can remain a playoff team, Nowitzki will likely earn one of the wild-card spots. Like Bryant, he could be voted in (by the coaches, in his case) for all he's done for the game of the basketball, and for the fact that we might not have many moments left to enjoy his legendary one-legged fadeaway.

Cousins has been the best of the three remaining players, but he's  played only 15 games. He'll need to make up the difference, staying healthy until the break. Lillard has been almost as good, but it might be asking too much to put four point guards on the team. Thompson would be the third Warrior -- and they certainly deserve such recognition -- but he hasn't played like an All-Star yet and would need to bounce back to last season's numbers to deserve the nod over the other two.

On the contrary, if Bryant were listed a backcourt player, Harden, Westbrook and Paul would all come off the bench -- two as reserves, one as a wild card. And therein lies the rub. Already, the deep backcourt in the West is encroaching on an additional spot, and we haven't even gotten to Lillard and Thompson.

Griffin would probably start in that case, with Leonard and Green earning backup frontcourt positions. That leaves Nowitzki and Cousins fighting for the final big man reserve spot, with the loser in the running for that final wild card spot.

And that's the difference. With Bryant as a frontcourt player, Nowitzki, Cousins, Lillard and Thompson are battling for two wild-card spots among them. When Bryant is a backcourt player, it's the same four candidates, but the spots are more limited: one frontcourt player, and one wild card. If Bryant's going to play in the game -- and he should, we agree -- then this is the best answer.

The All-Star Game is ultimately for the fans, and if they want Bryant, then they will get him. At the same time, All-Star games matter. All-Star selections can change the perception of a player, whether used as a benchmark for making the Hall of Fame, or in negotiations as a free agent. People pay attention to this stuff.

A potential solution, which some pundits and fans have suggested: adding a 13th roster spot for a legacy pick, allowing a deserving player who's nearing the end of his career to still make the team and put on a show for the fans. Bryant would obviously fit that criteria this season. Though there is never a perfect way to determine the All-Star Game roster, the 12 players who make the team should all be legitimate All-Stars. 

Of course, injuries are always a factor in who makes the All-Star team, and the unfortunate likelihood -- knock on wood -- is that one of the 15 or so leading candidates will be injured by the time the All-Star Game rolls around. Who knows, it could be Bryant, as he hasn’t been able to hold up for a full season in three years now.

But if things remain as they currently stand, Bryant’s farewell tour will cost a deserving player a spot in the history books. There's no way around it. That's not a judgment. It's simply a fact. So kudos to the NBA for embracing the Mamba and making the most of the process.

Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow Jovan on Twitter at @jovanbuha.