"Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard continues to lead the NBA in All-Star balloting in the second wave of returns, with more than 1.1 millions votes, the league announced Thursday.

Howard, who leads the NBA in rebounding, led after the first returns and now has received 1,161,797 votes for the Feb. 26 All-Star Game set for Orlando's Amway Center.

Kobe Bryant is right behind Howard in overall voting.

Bryant's 1,110,379 votes leads Western Conference guards, while the L.A. Clippers' Chris Paul is second at 835,026). Kevin Durant leads the forwards in the West with 973,152, followed by Blake Griffin of the Clippers with 619,913 votes. "