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 Wednesday, February 9
Raptors' Carter a slam dunk selection
 
Associated Press

 NEW YORK -- The Los Angeles Lakers, with the best record in the NBA, will be the only team with two starters in the All-Star Game -- Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

Shaquille O'Neal
O'Neal

Vince Carter
Carter

In the final voting results announced Saturday, O'Neal and Bryant were joined in the Western Conference starting lineup by guard Jason Kidd of Phoenix and forwards Kevin Garnett of Minnesota and Tim Duncan of San Antonio.

Toronto's Vince Carter, the league's top vote-getter, leads an Eastern Conference lineup that also features Detroit forward Grant Hill, Miami center Alonzo Mourning and guards Allen Iverson of Philadelphia and Eddie Jones of Charlotte.

The game will be played Feb. 13 at The Arena in Oakland, Calif., home of the Golden State Warriors.

Phil Jackson, whose Lakers are 34-9, will coach the West. The East coach will be Miami's Pat Riley or New York's Jeff Van Gundy, depending on which team has the better winning percentage after Sunday's games.

Dickerson replaces Carter
NEW YORK -- Vancouver Grizzlies guard Michael Dickerson will replace Toronto's Vince Carter on the 1999 rookie team roster for the Rookie Challenge on Feb. 12 in Oakland, Calif.

Last season's rookies play the current crop in a game that's part of the NBA All-Star Weekend. The All-Star game itself will be played Feb. 13.

Dickerson is replacing Carter because the Raptors' star has been chosen to start for the East in the All-Star game.

All NBA head coaches will vote for the reserves in their conferences.

The East has won the last three games and leads the series 31-17.

O'Neal, an All-Star for the seventh time, was the leading vote-getter in the West with 1,807,609 votes out of the more than 3.9 million ballots cast by fans.

The 7-foot-1 center was second in the league in scoring at 27.7 points, first in field goal percentage at .569 and second in blocked shots at 3.48 per game through Friday's games.

Bryant secured a guard spot and his second All-Star selection with 1,022,897 votes. Kidd received 1,061,031 votes, Garnett 1,550,976 and Duncan 1,321,436).

Carter, the sensational second-year pro, is the first member of the Raptors to play in an All-Star Game. The high-scoring forward received 1,911,973 votes.

"It's something you don't think of every day," Carter said about being the top vote-getter. "It's just like 'Wow.' It makes you wonder how many fans you have out there.

"I'm excited. I'm ready for that weekend to get here. It will be fun. It's the first time and I want to get out there and experience it.

"I'm happy I can get this type of support, not just for me but for the city of Toronto. My teammates and coaches believed in me and let me do what I can do. And then I gained confidence."

Hill finished with 1,371,304, Mourning with 1,878,588, Iverson with 1,843,011 and Jones with 734,940.

Carter and Iverson will be making their All-Star debuts. Hill and Mourning will each be appearing for the fifth time. Garnett, Jones and Kidd are All-Stars for the third time, and Duncan will participate for the second time.

In addition to O'Neal, several other All-Stars led the league in individual categories.

Iverson was No. 1 in scoring at 30.9, Kidd was tops in assists at 10.0, Jones led in steals at 3.06 and Mourning was first in blocks with a 4.29 average.

 


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