Four Bobcats on All-Star Ballot

Click here to cast your vote to help get Okafor, Wallace, Felton and Brezec to Las Vegas!

Bobcats fans will have the chance for four of their favorite players to participate in the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. Bobcats forwards Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace, guard Raymond Felton and center Primoz Brezec were selected to appear on this year’s All-Star ballot.

Balloting for the 56th NBA All-Star Game presented by T-Mobile begins today. The game, which will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 215 countries and territories worldwide, will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 18, 2007.

Okafor has returned to the Bobcats lineup this season after missing 56 games with an ankle injury last year and leads the NBA in blocks with 3.50, ranks fourth with 12.2 rebounds and places 32nd in points with 18.2. Felton closed out last year earning Rookie of the Month honors for February, March and April, while Wallace finished the 2005-06 as the first player to average over 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals in 14 years. Although Brezec has been sidelined with exhaustion over the season’s first two weeks, his solid play since joining the Bobcats two seasons ago, including 12.4 points on .517 shooting (14th in the NBA) last season, has him on the ballot.

Fans have the opportunity to vote at all NBA arenas, in 20 different languages on NBA.com, on AOL.com/nba, at 1,250 T-Mobile-owned retail locations, the Thomas & Mack Center, the Las Vegas Convention Center, Fremont Street and through mobile phones at t-zones using T-Mobile service or wap.nba.com for any wireless carrier. For the first time, 13 NBA team arenas will also carry a Spanish-language version of the ballot. T-Mobile is the presenting partner of 2007 NBA All-Star Balloting program. This year’s other All-Star Balloting partners include 2K Sports, AOL.com, XBOX, GameStop & EB Games.

NBA All-Star 2007 is a week-long celebration that enables fans to experience the thrill of the world’s greatest athletes playing the game they love and features a full slate of community-enhancing activities and fan festivals such as Jam Session.

A total of 120 players – 60 each from the Eastern and Western Conferences – are listed on the NBA All-Star ballot, with 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers from each conference comprising the ballot. Voters select two guards, two forwards and one center from each conference. The 120 players on the ballot were selected by a panel of media experts who regularly cover the NBA. This year’s panel included Steve Aschburner (Minneapolis Star Tribune/ President, Professional Basketball Writers’ Association), Ric Bucher (ESPN the Magazine), Ernie Johnson (Turner Sports) and Sam Smith (Chicago Tribune).

The 2007 NBA All-Star Balloting program continues through January 15, 2007 for paper balloting and January 21, 2007 for online balloting. Updated results for the Eastern and Western Conferences will be issued regularly leading up to the announcement of the All-Star starters on Thursday January 25 prior to a TNT doubleheader. Following the completion of fan voting and the starting line-up announcement, the head coaches in each conference will vote to determine the remaining All-Stars in their respective conference, which will be announced Thursday, February 1 prior to a TNT doubleheader.

Cast your vote now!