TNT announced the starters voted in by fans on Thursday night for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston on February 17:

EAST: Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics, 4x), Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat, 9x), Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks, 6x), LeBron James (Miami Heat, 9x), Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics, 15x)

WEST: Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers, 6x), Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers, 15x), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder, 4x), Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers, 3x), Dwight Howard (Los Angeles Lakers, 7x).

The reserves will be announced on TNT on January 24th.

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Pit bull trainer and founder of Villalobos Rescue Center, Tia Torres, visits Memphis to meet up with pit bull lover and Memphis Grizzlies star, Zach Randolph. Together they meet Lucky, who is later nicknamed Z-Bo/Grizzly. After being found in a drainage pipe, Torres brings the scared pup back to her shelter to find a good home for him:

Carmelo Anthony and wife LaLa dismiss reports that their marriage is on the rocks as the two step out for dinner in London on Wednesday evening:

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”Anything that is said on the court is really subject to being picked up,” Stern said. ”For my money, I’d like to see the audio track of our games be a little bit more robust, anyway…If anything, there are going to be more mikes around the game rather than fewer.”

“And we encourage all of our teams to mike the court as best they can,” Stern said. “If a team does something to eavesdrop on other players, they would be sanctioned because it would be against our rules. But there’s a difference between eavesdropping — such as putting a microphone in the locker room or the huddle other than the one that the league does — and putting a microphone around the court to pick up the sounds of the game.”

via Mattias Karen, Associated Press

Kobe Bryant and Bill Clinton hosted an event in Hollywood Monday night to celebrate the grand opening of “Step Up On Second” – a supportive housing project in Hollywood to fight chronic homelessness.

Kobe Bryant stars in Nike’s new “Kobe 8″ ad for his recently released signature shoe:

Photo edits of the day for January 17, 2013. Follow us on Instagram: @beyondthebuzzer.

Damian Lillard x Kyrie Irving

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Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in 2007 who hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2009 due to a litany of knee injuries, is aiming for a comeback. Part of Oden’s plan is to sign with a team in the next month and get into a training and conditioning program with an eye toward returning to the floor next season. The Celtics are among the teams monitoring Oden’s progress, and sources tell CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman that the Spurs and Cavaliers have expressed interest, too.

via Ken Berger, CBS SPORTS

You versus LeBron? Who wins?: Me. No question. As far as one-on-one, I’m the best to ever do it.

Who could get you?: Kevin Durant is the guy that would give me the most trouble. With his length and ability to use the dribble, he’d be tough.

When was the last time you pumped your own gas?: Yesterday. I do all of life’s daily tasks. The other day my wife and I stopped at 7-Eleven and I pulled up to the pump and I started to pump some gas. She went inside to buy something and was waiting in line. The guy in front of her sees me outside but doesn’t see her. He says, “Man, there’s Kobe Bryant pumping his own gas.” My wife says to the guy, “He wipes his own ass, too.”

She came back out and we had a big laugh about it. We both have the same sense of humor when it comes to stuff like that. But, yeah, I do the same things as everyone else.

via Chris Palmer, ESPN