http://www.nba.com/2008/news/12/25/1225allstarreturns/index.html?rss=true NEW YORK -- Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers lead the Eastern Conference, while Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets top the Western Conference after the second returns of 2009 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile. Howard, the reigning Sprite Slam Dunk champion, is the overall leader with 1,421,882 votes. The 58th NBA All-Star Game will be played in Phoenix on Sunday, Feb. 15. The game will air live (8pm ET) on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Phoenix also hosted the All-Star Game in 1975 and 1995. James, the 2008 NBA All-Star Game MVP, paces all Eastern Conference forwards with 1,259,764 votes, followed by Boston's Kevin Garnett (905,506), the leading vote-recipient in 2008. Miami's Dwyane Wade, the NBA's leading scorer, leads all Eastern Conference guards with 1,229,858 votes, followed by Detroit's Allen Iverson (858,469). Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert (232,733) is running second to Howard at the center position. Bryant leads all Western Conference players with 1,280,912 votes, followed by Yao (1,114,709). The Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady follows Bryant at the guard position with 746,098 votes. San Antonio's Tim Duncan (903,311) and Phoenix's Amar'e Stoudemire (626,796) pace all Western Conference forwards, with Shaquille O'Neal (546,583) of the Phoenix Suns trailing Yao at the center position. RELATED LINKS • Cast your vote for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game The 2009 NBA All-Star Balloting program, which also includes partner 2K Sports, allows fans around the world to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the All-Star Game in a variety of ways, including: at each NBA arena; in 20 languages on NBA.com; and through mobile phones at t-zones® on T-Mobile phones or wap.nba.com for any wireless carrier. A T-Mobile-branded All-Star Balloting widget is available on NBA.com so that fans can "grab" the widget and place it on their blogs, social network pages, or personal websites allowing others to vote directly from the widget. Voting will continue through Jan. 11, for paper balloting and Jan. 19, for NBA.com and wireless balloting. 2009 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING Leaders of the Eastern Conference in the second returns of NBA All-Star balloting for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. Forwards Player Votes LeBron James (Clev) 1,259,764 Kevin Garnett (Bos) 905,506 Yi Jianlian (NJ) 762,162 Chris Bosh (Tor) 500,700 Paul Pierce (Bos) 313,474 Shawn Marion (Mia) 210,040 Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 137,035 Danny Granger (Ind) 116,238 Josh Smith (Atl) 110,186 Michael Beasley (Mia) 100,257 Tayshaun Prince (Det) 98,262 Guards Player Votes Dwyane Wade (Mia) 1,229,858 Allen Iverson (Det) 858,469 Vince Carter (NJ) 600,087 Ray Allen (Bos) 354,642 Devin Harris (NJ) 267,504 Gilbert Arenas (Wash) 205,223 Derrick Rose (Chi) 203,687 Luke Ridnour (Mil) 197,933 Jose Calderon (Tor) 193,715 Jameer Nelson (Orl) 174,081 Joe Johnson (Atl) 162,772 Centers Player Votes Dwight Howard (Orl) 1,421,882 Samuel Dalembert (Phi) 232,733 Rasheed Wallace (Det) 163,279 Jermaine ONeal (Tor) 147,534 Andrew Bogut (Mil) 112,708 Al Horford (Atl) 107,118 Ben Wallace (Clev) 89,809 Emeka Okafor (Char) 69,015 Zyrdrunas Ilgauskas (Cle) 60,970 Kendrick Perkins (Bos) 54,772 Brendan Haywood (Wash) 28,182 2009 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING Leaders of the Western Conference in the second returns of NBA All-Star balloting for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. Forwards Player Votes Tim Duncan (SA) 903,311 Amare Stoudemire (Pho) 626,796 Carmelo Anthony (Den) 602,457 Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 553,611 Ron Artest (Hou) 509,717 Pau Gasol (LAL) 424,135 Shane Battier (Hou) 292,287 Bruce Bowen (SA) 286,923 Josh Howard (Dal) 209,802 Luis Scola (Hou) 181,253 LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 145,857 Guards Player Votes Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,280,912 Tracy McGrady (HOU) (746,098) Chris Paul (NO) 725,251 Manu Ginobili (SA) 386,846 Tony Parker (SA) 358,107 Jason Kidd (Dal) 299,107 Steve Nash (Pho) 281,909 Jason Terry (Dal) 226,754 Rafer Alston (Hou) 211,017 Brandon Roy (Por) 174,244 Chauncey Billups (Den) 170,645 Centers Player Votes Yao Ming (Hou) 1,114,709 Shaquille ONeal (Pho) 546,583 Andrew Bynum (LAL) 259,331 Mehmet Okur (Utah) 235,292 Greg Oden (Por) 144,650 Andris Biedrins (GS) 101,115 Al Jefferson (Minn) 86,296 Tyson Chandler (NO) 85,452 Nick Collison (OKC) 67,338 Marcus Camby (LAC) 49,235 Chris Kaman (LAC) 19,415
tmac winning a starting spot? i love the rockets as much as anyone, but if he gets the nod over chris paul thats a travesty. although, if ron is able to sneak into the starting spot then i would love to have 3 all stars.
T-Mac starting would be a complete joke. And I'm not gonna lie. I would be very interested to watch Rafer play in an All-Star game.
It wouldn't be a complete joke. We're 3rd in the west, and Tmac is considered the 2nd best player on this team by the populus. Some people just vote for best players on best team.
Forwards Player Votes LeBron James (Clev) 1,259,764 Kevin Garnett (Bos) 905,506 Yi Jianlian (NJ) 762,162 Chris Bosh (Tor) 500,700 Paul Pierce (Bos) 313,474 Shawn Marion (Mia) 210,040 Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 137,035 Danny Granger (Ind) 116,238 Josh Smith (Atl) 110,186 Michael Beasley (Mia) 100,257 Tayshaun Prince (Det) 98,262 LOL Infinity