Yao, James top All-Star voting

Dec 14, 2006, 19:00 GMT

New York, NY - Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Cleveland's LeBron James each lead their respective conferences in votes received after the first returns of the 2007 NBA All-Star balloting.

Yao leads all players in both leagues with 836,392 votes while James tops the Eastern Conference with 808,570 tallies. Guard Kobe Bryant of the Lakers is right behind Yao with 720,375 votes while Houston's Tracy McGrady has 668,130 votes.

Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett (453,536 votes) and the Spurs' Tim Duncan (423,228) lead all Western Conference forwards.

James is trailed by banished 76ers guard Allen Iverson, who has 595,200 votes. Philadelphia, of course, is in the process of trying to trade its star guard.

Toronto's Chris Bosh (304,624) is the second-leading forward vote-getter, while Miami's Dwyane Wade (586,679) is right on Iverson's heels at the guard spot.

Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, who is sidelined with a left knee injury, leads all Eastern Conference centers with 522,815 votes.

Balloting will continue through January 21 with the starters being announced four days later. The rest of the All-Star roster will be voted on by head coaches in each conference and will be named February 1.

The 26th NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 18.

© 2006 The Sports Network