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DIRK NOWITZKI HEADLINES
RESERVES FOR 2010 NBA ALL-STAR GAME

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2010 – Dirk Nowitzki of the hometown Dallas Mavericks was named an NBA All-Star for the ninth time, as the NBA today announced the list of 14 players—including seven first-timers—that have been selected by the coaches as reserves for the 2010 All-Star Game. The 59th NBA All-Star Game will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before an expected crowd of more than 80,000 – the largest group ever to witness a live basketball game – on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.

Joining Nowitzki on the West squad are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol, the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy, and three first-timers—the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant and the Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams.

In the Eastern Conference, four first-time selections – the Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford, the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo, the Charlotte Bobcats’ Gerald Wallace and the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose – are joined by the Hawks’ Joe Johnson, the Celtics’ Paul Pierce and the Toronto Raptors’ Chris Bosh. Rose also was selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, which will be held in Dallas at American Airlines Center on Friday, Feb. 12.

The 14 players selected—seven each from the Eastern and Western Conferences—were chosen by the 30 NBA head coaches, who were asked to vote for seven players in their respective conferences—two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.

Selected to start for the East—through the 2010 NBA All-Star Balloting Program presented by T-Mobile—were the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard, the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson. The Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire, and the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan will start for the West.

Should any player be unable to participate in the All-Star Game due to injury, NBA Commissioner David Stern will select the replacement.

The East and West All-Star coaches and coaching staffs will be determined by the best record in each conference through games played Jan. 31. Last year’s East and West coaches – Cleveland’s Mike Brown and the L.A. Lakers’ Phil Jackson—are not eligible to coach this year’s All-Star Game.

2010 EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

No. Player (Team) Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College/HS/Country All-Star Selections
4 Chris Bosh (Toronto) F/C 6-10 230 03/24/84 Georgia Tech 5
5 *Kevin Garnett (Boston) F 6-11 220 05/19/76 Farragut Academy (HS) 13
15 #Al Horford (Atlanta) F/C 6-10 245 06/03/86 Florida 1
12 *Dwight Howard (Orlando) C 6-11 265 12/08/85 SW Atlanta Christian Academy 4
3 *Allen Iverson (Philadelphia) G 6-0 165 06/07/75 Georgetown 11
23 *LeBron James (Cleveland) F 6-8 250 12/30/84 St. Vincent/St. Mary HS 6
2 Joe Johnson (Atlanta) G 6-7 235 06/29/81 Arkansas 4
34 Paul Pierce (Boston) F 6-7 235 10/13/77 Kansas 8
1 #Rajon Rondo (Boston) G 6-1 171 02/22/86 Kentucky 1
1 Derrick Rose (Chicago) G 6-3 190 10/04/88 Memphis 1
3 *Dwyane Wade (Miami) G 6-4 210 01/17/82 Marquette 6
3 #Gerald Wallace (Charlotte) F 6-7 215 07/23/82 Alabama 1

2010 WESTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STARS

No. Player (Team) Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College/HS/Country All-Star Selections
15 *Carmelo Anthony (Denver) F 6-8 230 05/29/84 Syracuse 3
24 *Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) G 6-6 205 08/23/78 Lower Merion HS 12
21 *Tim Duncan (San Antonio) F 6-11 260 04/25/76 Wake Forest 12
35 #Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) F 6-9 230 09/29/88 Texas 1
16 Pau Gasol (L.A. Lakers) F 7-0 227 07/06/80 Barcelona, Spain 3
    13 *Steve Nash (Phoenix) G 6-3 178 02/07/74 Santa Clara 7
41 Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) F 7-0 245 06/19/78 Wurzburg, Germany 9
3 Chris Paul (New Orleans) G 6-0 175 05/06/85 Wake Forest 3
50 #Zach Randolph (Memphis) F 6-9 260 07/16/81 Michigan State 1
7 Brandon Roy (Portland) G 6-6 211 07/23/84 Washington 3
1 *Amar’e Stoudemire (Phoenix) F/C 6-10 245 11/16/82 Cypress Creek HS 5
8 #Deron Williams (Utah) G 6-3 207 06/26/84 Illinois 1

*denotes starter
#denotes first-time selection

How many questions does Greg Oden have to answer about nude photos? Creepy Portland media, creepy.