Chinese center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets leads all players in the Western Conference while Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat is the leader in the Eastern Conference in votes received after the first returns of the 2005 NBA All-Star Balloting program.

Yao leads all players with 881,223 votes. He is followed at the center position in the Western Conference by Sacramento's Brad Miller (130,824). Kevin Garnett of Minnesota Timberwolves, the 2003-04 NBA Most Valuable Player, leads all Western Conference forwards with 751,586 votes, followed by San Antonio's Tim Duncan (570,090). Houston's Tracy McGrady (680,373) and Kobe Bryant (673,665) lead all Western Conference guards.

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

Through the 2005 NBA All-Star Balloting program, which began on November 18, fans from around the globe are responsible for voting in the starters for the 54th NBA All-Star Game, which will be played in Denver on Sunday, February 20.

The game will be broadcast live on TNT, Rogers Sportsnet, ESPN Radio and audio in several languages on NBA.com (http://nba.com) at 8 p.m. (EST).

The 2005 NBA All-Star Balloting program continues through January 23, 2005, and updated results for the Eastern and Western Conferences will be issued regularly leading up to the unveiling of the All-Star starters on Thursday, 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 All-Stars in their respective conferences.