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Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, winner of the last three Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, is this year’s leading vote-getter in the 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting program presented by Sprint with 1,600,390 votes. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, a four-time All-Star MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011), is the leading vote-getter in the Western Conference with 1,555,479 votes. Bryant ties Jerry West, Karl Malone, and Shaquille O’Neal for the most consecutive All-Star nods in NBA history with 14.

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game, which will air live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at Amway Center in Orlando on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.

Joining Howard in the Eastern Conference starting lineup at the forward position are the Miami Heat’s LeBron James (1,360,680), the 2006 and 2008 All-Star Game MVP, and the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony (1,041,290). The starters for the East at guard are the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose (1,514,723) and the Heat’s Dwyane Wade (1,334,223), the 2010 All-Star Game MVP.

Bryant, who joins Hall of Famer Bob Pettit (1956, 1958, 1959 and 1962) as the only four-time All-Star Game MVPs in NBA history, is joined in the Western Conference starting backcourt by the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (1,138,743). The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (1,345,566) and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin (876,451), making his first All-Star Game start, are the starting forwards. The Lakers’ Andrew Bynum, a first-time All-Star, gets the nod at center (1,051,945). This marks the first time since 1997 (Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, and Seattle’s Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton) that two pair of teammates have been voted to start for one conference.

2012 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by Sprint allowed fans around the world the opportunity to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. Fans were able cast their votes as part of this season’s all-digital program, including in 16 languages on NBA.com or by visiting m.NBA.com on any wireless carrier. Fans also had the option to vote through mobile phones. Sprint customers in the U.S. were also able to access the ballot and vote through the new

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The Rising Stars Challenge in its varying forms over the years has always been a must-see piece of NBA All-Star Weekend, matching the top rookies and the match sophomores in a game for bragging rights. This year the NBA is mixing it up a bit.

The league will still choose the top nine players from each of the two classes, but instead of Rookies versus Sophomores the league will allow TNT personalities to choose the teams regardless of class.

With the starters for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game announced Thursday evening and the reserves soon to follow, it’s time to take a stab at who the top nine players should be for each class.

The Rookies

We could just take the top nine players from the weekly Rookie Watch, but that’s not exactly the best idea because in this week’s rankings five of them were point guards. So who makes the cut?

Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves

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The 2012 NBA All-Star game is just around the corner and the NBA and its partner TNT will announce the reserves for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando after naming the starters last week.

The starters look like this:

EAST: Derrick Rose (Chi), Dwyane Wade (Mia), LeBron James (Mia), Carmelo Anthony (Nyk), Dwight Howard (Orl)

WEST: Chris Paul (Lac), Kobe Bryant (Lal), Kevin Durant (Okc), Blake griffin (Lac), Andrew Bynum (Lal)

We asked a few of our NBA experts to log their choices for the seven reserves for the All-Star game.

Keep in mind, we asked our guys to choose reserves based only on their opinion, so you may not agree.  Here is how it played out:

Yannis Alex K Bill Jason Lang EAST 1 Chris BoshChris Bosh Chris BoshChris Bosh Chris Bosh2 Roy HibbertRoy Hibbert Roy HibbertRoy Hibbert Roy Hibbert3 Kyrie IrvingJoe Johnson Rajon RondoRajon Rondo Rajon Rondo4 Deron WilliamsDeron Williams Joe JohnsonJoe Johnson Joe Johnson5 Paul PiercePaul Pierce Paul PierceRay Allen Deron Williams6 Danny GrangerJosh Smith Danny GrangerAnderson Varejao Josh Smith7 Andre IguodalaAndre Iguodala Andre IguodalaBrandon Jennings Andre IguodalaWEST 1 Kevin LoveKevin Love Kevin LoveKevin Love Kevin Love2 LaMarcus AldridgeLaMarcus Aldridge LaMarcus AldridgeLaMarcus Aldridge LaMarcus Aldridge3 Rudy GayDanilo Gallinari Danilo GallinariDanilo Gallinari Dirk Nowitzki4 Russell WestbrookRussell Westbrook Russell WestbrookRussell Westbrook Russell Westbrook5 Tony ParkerSteve Nash Tony ParkerTony Parker Tony Parker6 Paul MillsapMarc Gasol Marc GasolMarc Gasol Marc Gasol7 Monta EllisMonta Ellis Monta EllisSteve Nash Monta Ellis

 

Who would you name an All-Star Reserve? Did someone get clearly snubbed? Drop your comments below.

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