All-Star

And so the fans have spoken. After more than two months of voting, the starters for the NBA All-Star game to be held in Denver this month were announced.

Leading the polls was Houston Rockets' center Yao Ming. He will be joined in the West team's starting line-up by Rockets teammate Tracy McGrady and Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant as guards, and San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan and Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett as forwards.

For the East, the leading vote getter was Miami Heat's center, Shaquille O'Neal. Joining him for the opening tip are forwards Vince Carter (New Jersey Nets) and Grant Hill (Orlando Magic), and guards LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers).

Among the ten starters, only James will be making his first appearance in the NBA's mid-season classic, with all the others having been named as All-Stars at least twice.

The seven reserves for each team will be voted in by the coaches of each conference, with each coach not allowed to vote for a player from his team.

One no-brainer pick to make the West team should be Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash. This Canadian currently leads the league in assists, and is considered to be the main reason why the Suns have been enjoying a great season so far. His game this season has been outstanding that this early, several sportswriters are putting him on top of their MVP candidates' list.

Other strong candidates include Ray Allen of the Seattle Supersonics (West guard), Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks (West forward), Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns (West center/forward), Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat (East guard), and Jermaine O’Neal of the Indiana Pacers (East forward).

As for the rest of the slots, there are lots of worthy claimers and one could make strong cases for each of them. Anyway, the coaches should know better regarding who truly deserves the honor of being named as an All-Star.