The Houston Rockets' Chinese center Yao Ming is ahead of all other players in the first returns of votes for the 2005 NBA All-star Balloting program. Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat leads the Eastern Conference.

Yao got 881,223 votes, putting him way ahead the other centers in the Western Conference; the next is Sacramento's Brad Miller with 130,824. Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, the 2003-04 NBA Most Valuable Player, leads the forwards with 751,586 votes, followed by San Antonio's Tim Duncan (570,090), whilst Houston's Tracy McGrady (680,373) and Kobe Bryant (673,665) were the highest voted guards.

O'Neal leads all Eastern Conference players with 854,930 votes, followed at center position by Detroit's Ben Wallace (266,891). Toronto's Vince Carter (619,959) and Orlando's Grant Hill (552,328) lead the forwards, and Cleveland's LeBron James (557,538) and Philadelphia's Allen Iverson (521,245) the guards.

Through the balloting program, which began on November 18, fans from around the globe are voting for who will play in the 54th NBA All-star Game, to be held in Denver on February 20.

The game will be broadcast live on TNT, Rogers Sports Net, ESPN Radio and in audio in several languages on NBA.com?at 8 PM (EST).

The balloting continues through January 23 and updated results for both conferences will be issued regularly leading up to an unveiling on February 3.

Following the completion of fan voting and starting line-up announcement, the head coaches in each conference will vote to determine the remaining players.

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2004)