The National Basketball Association on Tuesday unveiled the official 2009 NBA All-Star ballot at a star-studded event in Phoenix, the locale for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game; as expected, the Phoenix suns had plenty of representation at the event, including Shaquille O’Neal, Raja Bell, Amare Stoudemire and Grant Hill. The game will take place on February 15 at US Airways Center.
The ballot in question will have 120 players evenly split between the Western and Eastern Conferences; each side will have 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers. Voters can select two guards, two forwards and a center from each conference; one minor change that will be reflected on the online voting is that due to the Denver-Detroit trade, Allen Iverson’s name will be on the East roster while Chauncey Billups‘ name will be on the West roster. Paper ballots were printed before the trade took place, so any votes for Iverson, Billups or Antonio McDyess will be credited towards their new team and conference.
Paper ballot voting will continue until January 11 while online voting at NBA.com and wireless voting will begin on Thursday, November 13 and end on January 19. The players on the ballot were selected by the following panel: Paul Coro (Arizona Republic), Ernie Johnson (TNT), Jack McCallum (Sports Illustrated), David Moore (Dallas Morning News), Marc Spears (Boston Globe) and Marc Stein (ESPN.com). Below are the players who are on the ballot for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game:
NBA Eastern Conference – Guards
Ray Allen, Boston
Gilbert Arenas, Washington
Mike Bibby, Atlanta
**Chauncey Billups, Detroit
Jose Calderon, Toronto
Vince Carter, New Jersey
Jamal Crawford, New York
Raymond Felton, Charlotte
TJ Ford, Indiana
Ben Gordon, Chicago
Richard Hamilton, Detroit
Devin Harris, New Jersey
Joe Johnson, Atlanta
Stephon Marbury, New York
Andre Miller, Philadelphia
Jameer Nelson, Orlando
Anthony Parker, Toronto
Michael Redd, Milwaukee
Jason Richardson, Charlotte
Luke Ridnour, Milwaukee
Rajon Rondo, Boston
Derrick Rose, Chicago
Dwyane Wade, Miami
Mo Williams, Cleveland
Eastern Conference – Forwards
Michael Beasley, Miami
Chris Bosh, Toronto
Elton Brand, Philadelphia
Caron Butler, Washington
Luol Deng, Chicago
Mike Dunleavy, Indiana
Kevin Garnett, Boston
Danny Granger, Indiana
Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia
LeBron James, Cleveland
Antawn Jamison, Washington
Richard Jefferson, Milwaukee
Rashard Lewis, Orlando
Shawn Marion, Miami
**Antonio McDyess, Detroit
Andres Nocioni, Chicago
Paul Pierce, Boston
Tayshaun Prince, Detroit
Zach Randolph, New York
Josh Smith, Atlanta
Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando
Gerald Wallace, Charlotte
Marvin Williams, Atlanta
Yi Jianlian, New Jersey
Eastern Conference – Centers
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee
Eddy Curry, New York
Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia
Brendan Haywood, Washington
Al Horford, Atlanta
Dwight Howard, Orlando
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland
Emeka Okafor, Charlotte
Jermaine O’Neal, Toronto
Kendrick Perkins, Boston
Ben Wallace, Cleveland
Rasheed Wallace, Detroit
Western Conference – Guards
Rafer Alston, Houston
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix
Raja Bell, Phoenix
Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
Michael Conley, Memphis
Baron Davis, LA Clippers
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
Monta Ellis, Golden State
Derek Fisher, LA Lakers
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
**Allen Iverson, Denver
Stephen Jackson, Golden State
Jason Kidd, Dallas
Kevin Martin, Sacramento
O.J. Mayo, Memphis
Tracy McGrady, Houston
Steve Nash, Phoenix
Tony Parker, San Antonio
Chris Paul, New Orleans
Brandon Roy, Portland
J.R. Smith, Denver
Jason Terry, Dallas
Beno Udrih, Sacramento
Deron Williams, Utah
Western Conference – Forwards
LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland
Carmelo Anthony, Denver
Ron Artest, Houston
Shane Battier, Houston
Carlos Boozer, Utah
Bruce Bowen, San Antonio
Tim Duncan, San Antonio
Pau Gasol, LA Lakers
Rudy Gay, Memphis
Grant Hill, Phoenix
Josh Howard, Dallas
Andrei Kirilenko, Utah
Kevin Love, Minnesota
Corey Maggette, Golden State
Kenyon Martin, Denver
Mike Miller, Minnesota
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
Lamar Odom, LA Lakers
Luis Scola, Houston
Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans
Amar’e Stoudemire, Phoenix
Al Thornton, LA Clippers
David West, New Orleans
Chris Wilcox, Oklahoma City
Western Conference – Centers
Andris Biedrins, Golden State
Andrew Bynum, LA Lakers
Marcus Camby, LA Clippers
Tyson Chandler, New Orleans
Nick Collison, Oklahoma City
Al Jefferson, Minnesota
Chris Kaman, LA Clippers
Brad Miller, Sacramento
Greg Oden, Portland
Mehmet Okur, Utah
Shaquille O’Neal, Phoenix
Yao Ming, Houston
** These players were involved in the Denver-Detroit trade.