Denton: Howard Leads Centers in All-Star Voting
By John Denton
December 24, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard ranks fourth among NBA players in total all-star votes and appears to be well on his way to earning a third consecutive start in the NBA All-Star Game.
Howard, who had a NBA record 3.1 million all-star votes last season, leads all centers in votes and is one of just six players so far to get at least 1 million votes.
Howard’s teammate, Vince Carter, was second among guards in the Eastern Conference when the voting updates were released two weeks ago. But Carter has since slipped behind Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson in the balloting. Iverson has 635,084 votes, while Carter has 554,779 votes.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant leads all players in voting with 1,380,383 votes. Cleveland forward LeBron James is second with 1,315,292, while Miami guard Dwyane Wade is third with 1,314,215. Howard is fourth overall and he has a commanding lead over Shaquille O’Neal with 455,239 votes.
Howard leads the NBA in rebounding (13.1) and blocked shots (2.48), while also averaging 17.8 points per game.
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before what could be the largest crowd ever to witness a live basketball game (80,000).
Paper balloting for the all-stars ends Jan. 10, while fans can vote online until Jan. 18. The starters will be announced on Jan. 21, while the reserves will be announced on Jan. 18.
Orlando had three players – Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Howard – voted into the all-star game last season. Howard, who became just the fifth player ever to lead the league in rebounding and blocked shots in the same season last year, set an All-Star Game record with 3,150,181 votes last season.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonDecember 24, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard ranks fourth among NBA players in total all-star votes and appears to be well on his way to earning a third consecutive start in the NBA All-Star Game.
Howard, who had a NBA record 3.1 million all-star votes last season, leads all centers in votes and is one of just six players so far to get at least 1 million votes.
Howard’s teammate, Vince Carter, was second among guards in the Eastern Conference when the voting updates were released two weeks ago. But Carter has since slipped behind Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson in the balloting. Iverson has 635,084 votes, while Carter has 554,779 votes.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant leads all players in voting with 1,380,383 votes. Cleveland forward LeBron James is second with 1,315,292, while Miami guard Dwyane Wade is third with 1,314,215. Howard is fourth overall and he has a commanding lead over Shaquille O’Neal with 455,239 votes.
Howard leads the NBA in rebounding (13.1) and blocked shots (2.48), while also averaging 17.8 points per game.
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before what could be the largest crowd ever to witness a live basketball game (80,000).
Paper balloting for the all-stars ends Jan. 10, while fans can vote online until Jan. 18. The starters will be announced on Jan. 21, while the reserves will be announced on Jan. 18.
Orlando had three players – Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Howard – voted into the all-star game last season. Howard, who became just the fifth player ever to lead the league in rebounding and blocked shots in the same season last year, set an All-Star Game record with 3,150,181 votes last season.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
