Knicks put in All-Star bids to be represented in L.A.

The return of basketball relevancy to the Big Apple can be found next month in Los Angeles. Amar'e Stoudemire is a virtual lock to represent the New York Knicks on the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

Stoudemire hasn't wasted any time making his presence felt in New York, leading the Knicks back into playoff contention after a six-year absence. The MVP candidate is also in the running for a starting All-Star spot, checking in third among East forwards and gaining fast in the latest voting returns released Thursday.

But is Stoudemire the only Knickerbocker deserving of an all-expense paid trip to Staples Center? Raymond Felton might not be getting the fan love -- he's only eighth in the East guard vote -- but the plucky point guard is quietly putting together an All-Star caliber season in his first New York campaign. Felton is enjoying a career year, averaging 18.2 points and 8.7 assists, good for seventh in the league.

"He deserves it, but again somebody will be left off [the All-Star team] and they deserve it, too," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "You can only pick 12 guys and the 13th guy deserves it. It'll come down to that. I hope he will get it. In my mind he definitely deserves it. He's played well."

So have most of those in the running for starting spots. The leaders for the East and West teams haven't changed since the second returns were announced a week ago. West guard Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers continues to lead all candidates with 1,391,597 votes. Orlando center Dwight Howard and Miami teammates LeBron James (forward) and Dwyane Wade (guard) also have cracked 1 million.

The East team remains Wade and Rajon Rondo (Boston) in the backcourt, LeBron and Kevin Garnett (Boston) at forward, and Howard in the pivot. All five have remained the leaders at their respective positions since the first returns were released on Dec. 16.

The West is just as immune to change. Bryant and Chris Paul (New Orleans) head up the guards, Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City) and Carmelo Anthony (Denver) man the forward spots, and Yao Ming (Houston) is still setting the pace at center. Yao is out of the season, so if he's elected the starting center -- his lead over Andrew Bynum (Lakers) has surpassed 260,000 -- NBA commissioner David Stern will choose the West starter.

The tightest races are at East guard and forward and West forward. Chicago's Derrick Rose has narrowed the gap with Rondo to approximately 12,000 votes. Stoudemire sits 24,000 shy of Garnett and Anthony is up on the Lakers' Pau Gasol by about 40,000 votes.

Felton has too much ground to make up, falling more than 785,000 votes short of Rose with only 17 days of voting left. His fate will likely end up in the hands of East coaches, who will balance his improvement with that of the Knicks overall.

"He's got to continue and we've got to continue to get better as a team, but there are a lot of guys who haven't made an All-Star team that are deserving," D'Antoni said. "It's tough, it's tough. You gotta have a little luck and hope it works out for you."

Fans can continue to vote for the starters at the 60th NBA All-Star Game through paper balloting in arenas, online at NBA.com or through texting. Arena voting ends Jan. 17, while online and wireless wraps up Jan. 23.

The All-Star Game, on TNT, is Feb. 20, 2011 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Starters will be announced live on TNT on Jan. 27, during a special one-hour pregame show (7 p.m. ET) before the Miami-New York and Boston-Portland doubleheader.

Art Garcia has covered the NBA since 1999. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.

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2011 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING EASTERN CONFERENCE	2011 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING WESTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards:	Forwards:
LeBron James  (Heat)  1,194,091 Kevin Garnett  (Celtics)  850,687 Amar'e Stoudemire  (Knicks)  826,628 Paul Pierce  (Celtics)  465,270 Chris Bosh  (Heat)  334,921 Josh Smith  (Hawks)  225,951 Carlos Boozer  (Bulls)  222,431 Danilo Gallinari  (Knicks)  168,519 Danny Granger  (Pacers)  158,836 Andre Iguodala  (76ers)  150,840	Kevin Durant  (Thunder)  945,944 Carmelo Anthony  (Nuggets)  742,284 Pau Gasol  (Lakers)  702,859 Tim Duncan  (Spurs)  551,226 Blake Griffin  (Clippers)  540,701 Dirk Nowitzki  (Mavericks)  518,682 Lamar Odom  (Lakers)  285,667 Luis Scola  (Rockets)  258,407 Kevin Love  (T-Wolves)  233,273 Caron Butler  (Mavericks)  186,626
Guards:	Guards:
Dwyane Wade  (Heat)  1,167,649 Rajon Rondo  (Celtics)  929,781 Derrick Rose  (Bulls)  917,753 Ray Allen  (Celtics)  494,489 John Wall  (Wizards)  212,238 Gilbert Arenas  (Magic)  193,056 Brandon Jennings  (Bucks)  172,076 Raymond Felton  (Knicks)  144,707 Jamal Crawford  (Hawks)  123,531 Joe Johnson  (Hawks)  119,455	Kobe Bryant  (Lakers)  1,391,597 Chris Paul  (Hornets)  724,605 Manu Ginobili  (Spurs)  504,123 Steve Nash  (Suns)  397,975 Deron Williams  (Jazz)  384,515 Russell Westbrook  (Thunder)  327,453 Tony Parker  (Spurs)  298,771 Jason Kidd  (Mavericks)  260,569 Vince Carter  (Suns)  228,698 Eric Gordon  (Clippers)  190,636
Centers:	Centers:
Dwight Howard  (Magic)  1,205,159 Shaquille O'Neal  (Celtics)  506,621 Joakim Noah  (Bulls)  197,407 Andrew Bogut  (Bucks)  159,560 Al Horford  (Hawks) 149,908 Roy Hibbert  (Pacers)  133,416 Andrea Bargnani  (Raptors)  126,185 Brook Lopez  (Nets)  104,784 JaVale McGee  (Wizards)  82,650 Ben Wallace  (Pistons)  61,051	Yao Ming  (Rockets)  754,583 Andrew Bynum  (Lakers)  493,237 Nene  (Nuggets)  292,829 Marc Gasol  (Grizzlies)  263,000 Brendan Haywood  (Mavericks)  245,737 Emeka Okafor  (Hornets)  227,621 Chris Kaman  (Clippers)  148,389 Marcus Camby  (Blazers)  148,322 Andris Biedrins  (Warriors)  91,600 Robin Lopez  (Suns)  81,148