Voting began on Tuesday for the 59th NBA All-Star game with supporters allowed to select their favorites by text message for the first time.

The league announced details of balloting and revealed the names on the ballot on Tuesday in Dallas, where the 2010 game will be played on Feb 14 at Cowboys Stadium, where more than 80,000 are expected to attend.

NBA fans can vote once a day per phone number by texting the last name of a player to a special number. Votes can also be cast at the league's website and by paper ballots at NBA arenas.

Voting concludes on Jan 10 for paper ballots and on Jan 18 by electronic means with starters set to be announced on Jan 21.

Cleveland's LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and Orlando center Dwight Howard are among those expected to garner huge vote totals as in past seasons.

China's Yao Ming, a popular selection since joining NBA as top draft in 2002, is not among the international players on the ballot because he is absent from the Houston Rockets lineup due to a broken foot. The giant center is expected to miss the whole regular season.

Among those players on the ballot from outside the US are Britain's Luol Deng, Australian Andrew Bogut, Frenchmen Boris Diaw and Tony Parker, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, Argentina's Manu Ginobili, Spain's Pau Gasol and Canada's Steve Nash.