Yao receives hightest votes for All-Star Game

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Yao receives hightest votes for All-Star Game

Updated: 2005-02-05 09:31

The Houston Rockets' Yao Ming, helped by the ability of fans to cast
votes on the NBA's multi-lingual website, received a record total of 2.56
million votes for the 54th All-Star Game.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming (L) led all NBA players in voting and
Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal (R) paced the Eastern Conference, as
the starters for the 2005 NBA All-Star Game were announced on February 3,
2005. [AP]
Yao's selection as the Western Conference centre sets up a showdown with
Miami's Shaquille O'Neal, who had the most votes in the East at 2.49
million.

Yao and O'Neal were announced Thursday as starters for the midseason
meeting February 20 in Denver, which will feature plenty of familiar
faces, one new one and another making a welcome return after a long
absence.

China's Yao was voted a starter for the third time in as many NBA seasons
despite modest statistics this season of 18.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per
game.

O'Neal makes his return as starter for the first time since 2002.

Traded in the offseason, O'Neal has averaged 23.0 points and 10.6
rebounds and has the Heat atop the East.

This will be the 12th All-Star Game for O'Neal, the MVP of last year's
contest.

The selection of starters for the Eastern and Western Conference
All-Stars was done through fan balloting, which is becoming somewhat
predictable. No less than seven players were voted as starters for the
third straight year.

One of O'Neal's teammates will be LeBron James, the second-year guard of
the Cleveland Cavaliers who received 1.66 million votes and is the only
first-time All-Star among the starters.

He is averaging 25.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists.

James often may find himself matched up with Kobe Bryant, the superstar
guard of the Los Angeles Lakers who also entered the NBA out of high
school and was voted as an All-Star starter in his second season. Bryant
got 1.81 million votes.

Houston's Tracy McGrady (1.99 million) will start alongside Bryant, who
remains sidelined with a severely sprained right ankle.

Phoenix guard Steve Nash, who has helped lead the Suns to the NBA's
second-best record at 37-11, was third at the position with 1.14 million
votes.

Minnesota's Kevin Garnett (2.09 million), the NBA Most Valuable Player
last season, and San Antonio's Tim Duncan (1.81 million) are the Western
Conference forwards.

Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets was the leading vote-getter among
forwards in the East with 1.8 million votes. Orlando's Grant Hill was
second with 1.50 million votes.

Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, the league's leading scorer, will start in
the Eastern Conference backcourt with James. Iverson, a six-time
All-Star, received 1.59 million votes.

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