Orlando Magic centre Dwight Howard leads the NBA in all-star votes with 775,933, according to early returns released by the league on Thursday.
Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, with 643,786 votes, and Boston's Kevin Garnett, with 495,514, lead Eastern Conference forwards. New Jersey's Yi Jianlian is third followed by Toronto's Chris Bosh, who has 274,195 votes. Raptors teammate Jermaine O'Neal is fourth among centres, while Jose Calderon, on the ballot for the first time, is fifth among guards. Miami's Dwyane Wade and Detroit's Allen Iverson lead Eastern guards.
Victoria's Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns is seventh among Western Conference guards with 142,410 votes, while Montreal's Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76ers is a distant second to Howard among East centres with 116,708 votes.
The 58th NBA all-star game will be played in Phoenix on Sunday, Feb. 15. Voting continues through Jan. 19.
MOBLEY RETIRES
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- New York Knicks guard Cuttino Mobley retired from the NBA on Thursday because of heart disease that he said has gotten worse.
Mobley said doctors told him he faced significant risks if he kept playing. He announced his decision at a press conference at the Knicks' training center, where he confirmed he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
The condition causes the heart muscle to thicken, making it harder to pump blood, and the 33-year-old Mobley said he had no choice but to end his career.
