Analysis: Some big names lacking in All-Star votes

There's clearly a drop-off in pivot quality once you get past Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference, and the latest voting returns for 2009 NBA All-Star Game reflect it. The NBA announced the third All-Star returns Thursday, and Howard has more than seven times as many votes as Samuel Dalembert, who ranks second among East centers.

Last week, it was announced that Howard will defend his Sprite Slam Dunk title on Feb. 14 in Phoenix. And there's no doubt that he'll be working back-to-back nights at the US Airways Center, making his third straight All-Star appearance and second straight start.

Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming also deservedly lead their positions in voting, but Howard remains the leading vote-getter by more than 175,000 votes over Bryant. James closed the gap on Bryant for second place overall over the last week and trails his Olympic teammate by just 12,748 votes.

When you talk about the best players in the NBA, there's one guy missing from the list above. Chris Paul was the runner-up for MVP last season and is playing just as brilliantly in 2008-09. With his Hornets in second place in the Western Conference, Paul is the conference's MVP of the first two months.

But Paul remains on the outside looking in when it comes to starting the All-Star Game, trailing Tracy McGrady by 93,963 votes for the second guard spot in the West. The gap was less than 21,000 last week, but it has grown.

Paul will undoubtedly be in Phoenix no matter what. Each conference's coaches will vote on their squad's seven reserves after the starters are announced and Paul would likely be the first name West coaches write down, but he clearly deserves to start next to the guy he finished behind in MVP voting last season.

Farther down the list of West guards is three-time All-Star Chauncey Billups. With the Nuggets at 21-12 in a year many thought they wouldn't be a playoff team, Billups is also on the short list of MVP candidates, but he ranks 11th at his position with just 205,554 votes.

At West forward, you can make a strong argument that seven-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki deserves the second starting spot over Amar'e Stoudemire. Nowitzki's Mavs are a half game ahead of Stoudemire's Suns in the standings, and Nowitzki only trails Carlos Boozer (who's only played 12 games) in efficiency among West forwards.

At East guard, with his Hawks at 21-10 and ranking third in efficiency at the position, two-time All-Star Joe Johnson looks like the next best candidate behind Wade. But like Billups, Johnson is 11th with less than 200,000 votes. Devin Harris has deservedly gained some ground in recent weeks, but Johnson hasn't been shown enough love from the fans.

At forward, the Nets' Yi Jianlian is still a threat to beat out Kevin Garnett for the second starting forward spot and actually gained a little ground (1,127 votes) on Garnett over the last week. Yi doesn't play like the third best forward on his own team most nights, but he's third in the conference when it comes to popularity.

The league will issue one more update of the balloting Jan. 8 and voting will continue through Jan. 19. The starters will be announced Thursday, Jan. 22 on TNT. While Howard can't be caught, there's still plenty of time for fans to change the game at the other positions.