Kevin Durant 2nd in Western Conference in First NBA All-Star Ballot Returns
NEW YORK — Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder top the Western Conference, while Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and LeBron James of the Miami Heat lead the Eastern Conference after the first returns of 2011 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile. Bryant, The Finals MVP last season, is the overall leader with 722,682 votes.
The 2011 NBA All-Star Game, which will air live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles — on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011.
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In the Western Conference, Bryant, a three-time All-Star MVP, who garnered the honor in 2002, 2007 and 2009, is followed at guard by the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul (386,649). Kevin Durant, a member of last year’s All-NBA First Team, paces forwards in the West (470,881), with the Lakers’ Pau Gasol (390,808) second. The Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming (430,984) is the leading vote-getter among Western Conference centers, with the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum (198,044) following.
Howard, the leading vote-getter in the Eastern Conference with 611,561 votes paces centers in the East, followed by the Boston Celtics’ Shaquille O’Neal (241,782). James, a two-time All-Star MVP (2006, 2008), leads all Eastern Conference forwards with 607,994 votes, followed by the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett (456,111), MVP of the 2003 All-Star Game. The Heat’s Dwyane Wade, last year’s All-Star Game MVP, paces guards in the East with 570,489 votes; the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo is second (497,141).
2011 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile, with associate partner 2K Sports, allows fans around the world to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game. Paper balloting will continue through Jan. 17, while wireless balloting and voting on NBA.com will conclude Jan. 23. There are several ways fans can cast their votes, including: at each NBA arena; in 20 languages on NBA.com; and through mobile phones by texting the player’s last name to 6-9-6-2-2 (“MYNBA”) or by visiting m.nba.com on any wireless carrier.
For SMS voting, fans can vote for All-Stars any time by texting a player’s last name from their mobile phones on any wireless carrier. Fans can cast one SMS vote per day, per phone number. Message and data rates may apply. T-Mobile customers will receive an exclusive 15 percent discount code to NBAStore.com for voting via SMS voting. Upon voting, T-Mobile customers will get a bounceback message with a discount code for them to use on NBAStore.com.
Fans can vote directly on NBA.com or use their Facebook profile information to help create an NBA.com All-Access account, which enables them to complete a ballot. After submitting their All-Star selections, fans will have the ability to share them with their friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter, and encourage others to cast their ballots.
Updated results for the Eastern and Western Conferences will be issued regularly leading up to the announcement of the All-Star starters. Starters will be announced live on TNT on Jan. 27, during a special one-hour pregame show at 7 P.M. ET featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, prior to TNT’s exclusive doubleheader Following the completion of fan voting and the starting line-up announcement, the head coaches in each conference will vote to determine the remaining All-Stars in their respective conference, which will be announced Thursday, Feb 3, prior to a TNT doubleheader.
The NBA All-Star ballot lists 120 players — 60 each from the Eastern and Western conferences — with 24 guards, 24 forwards, and 12 centers from each conference comprising the list. Voters select two guards, two forwards and one center from each conference. The 120 players on the ballot were selected by a panel of media who regularly cover the NBA: J.A. Adande (ESPN.com), Marv Albert (TNT), Art Garcia (NBA.com) Marc Spears (Yahoo! Sports), Doug Smith (The Toronto Star) and Ian Thomsen (Sports Illustrated).
Tags: 2011 NBA All-Star Game, 2011 NBA Season, All-Star Voting, Kevin Durant, Press Releases
