NEW YORK -- Miami's Alonzo Mourning has been sidelined all
season and Orlando's Grant Hill has played in only four games, yet
their reputations helped them make the Eastern Conference team for
the 50th NBA All-Star game.
Mourning, out with a kidney ailment, received 917,866 votes at
center, and Hill, on the disabled list with a broken left ankle,
collected 904,885 votes at forward in the fan balloting announced
Saturday.
It was the sixth time both Mourning and Hill were selected to
the team.
Toronto's Vince Carter, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer (28.4 ppg) through Saturday's games, led the voting for the second
straight year. Carter received 1,717,687 votes out of the more than
4.8 million ballots cast.
"It's an honor that people appreciate the way I play," Carter
said. "For me to lead in voting, still sometimes I have to pinch
myself."
Carter said this year's experience will be much different than
last year, when he was overwhelmed by everything he had to do.
Carter isn't participating in the slam dunk contest, which he won
last year.
"I can't tell you anything about the All-Star game last year,"
he said. "It was just go here, go there, do this, do that. I never
got a chance to stop and take a breath.
"I look forward to it this year. I'm going to enjoy all the
events."
Mourning, Hill and Carter were joined on the East's starting
lineup by guards Allen Iverson of Philadelphia (1,508,142) and
Tracy McGrady of Orlando (827,122).
Absent from the East's starting lineup was Detroit's Jerry
Stackhouse, the league's leading scorer at 30 points per game.
"I spoke to Iverson," Carter said, smiling. "I let him know
we have to outrun those big guys to have a chance. ... They've got
some height."
Beginning with 7-foot-1 Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille
O'Neal, the leading vote-getter for the Western Conference team
with 1,541,298 votes. Starting with O'Neal will be forwards Chris
Webber of Sacramento (1,306,243) and Tim Duncan of San Antonio
(1,096,522), and guards Kobe Bryant of the Lakers (1,433,747) and
Jason Kidd of Phoenix (1,062,837).
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Eastern Conference Starters
|
|
F
|
Vince Carter
|
28.4 ppg |
|
F
|
Grant Hill
|
13.8 ppg
|
|
C
|
Alonzo Mourning
|
DNP
|
|
G
|
Allen Iverson
|
29.0 ppg
|
|
G
|
Tracy McGrady
|
26.8 ppg
|
O'Neal, with 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots,
and Duncan, with 24 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, were the
co-MVPs of last year's game, won by the West 137-126 at Oakland.
The East leads the series 31-18.
The 29 NBA coaches will vote for the remaining members of the
All-Star teams in their respective conferences, and their
selections -- seven for each team -- will be announced Tuesday.
|
Western Conference Starters
|
|
F
|
Chris Webber
|
26.6 ppg |
|
F
|
Tim Duncan
|
20.0 ppg
|
|
C
|
Shaquille O'Neal
|
26.9 ppg
|
|
G
|
Kobe Bryant
|
29.3 ppg
|
|
G
|
Jason Kidd
|
9.8 apg
|
For those players who cannot participate, NBA commissioner David
Stern will select replacements after the coaches pick the reserves.
New York's Latrell Sprewell finished behind Hill at forward in
voting for the East team with 817,855 votes, and Philadelphia's
Theo Ratliff was runner-up to Mourning at center with 637,585
votes.
Larry Brown of Philadelphia will coach the East and Rick
Adelman will coach the
West.
The All-Star game will be played Feb. 11 at MCI Center in
Washington.
The most experienced All-Star among the starters is O'Neal, who
will be making his eighth appearance. O'Neal is the league leader
in field goal percentage (.571), the fifth-leading scorer (26.9),
the No. 2 rebounder (12.8) and the third-best shot-blocker (2.95).
Hill and Mourning were chosen to the All-Star game for the sixth
time each. Kidd, the league leader in assists (9.8), will be in his
fourth All-Star game. Kidd returned to the Suns' lineup Friday
night having missed the previous four games after being charged
last week with domestic violence assault, a misdemeanor.
Bryant, the No. 2 scorer at 29.3, Webber, seventh in scoring at
26.6, and Duncan, averaging 20 points, will each appear in the game
for the third time. Iverson, third in scoring at 29 points and the
steals leader at 2.49, is an All-Star for the second time, and
McGrady, sixth in scoring at 26.8, will be making his All-Star
debut.
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2001 All-Star voting
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