Yao, James remain on top of All-Star voting

Dec 28, 2006, 18:30 GMT

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

Yao, who is currently sidelined after suffering a non-displaced fracture in a bone under his right knee last week, led all players in total votes after the first returns and continued to do so on Thursday as the center has received a total of 1,411,923 votes. James and his 1,323,989 votes lead all Eastern Conference players.

Among Western Conference forwards, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett is in the lead with 785,865 votes. He is followed by Tim Duncan (715,916 votes) of San Antonio and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki (684,620).

Kobe Bryant (1,187,505) of the Lakers and Houston's Tracy McGrady (1,057,057) are 1-2 among Western guards. They are trailed by newcomer Allen Iverson, who was traded to Denver from Philadelphia on December 19. Iverson's Eastern Conference votes will count towards his new conference.

Miami's Dwyane Wade is second behind James in the East and leads all guards with 983,321 votes. Among guards, he is followed by New Jersey's Vince Carter (726,040) and Gilbert Arenas (494,761) of Washington.

Chris Bosh (497,283) of the Raptors is second among all Eastern forwards. Jermaine O'Neal (437,164) of the Pacers is third.

Wade's injured teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, is the top center vote-getter in the East with 855,544, while Orlando rising star Dwight Howard is second with 665,434 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