NEW YORK, Jan. 15 -- Toronto’s Vince Carter and Los Angeles Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal continue to maintain their lead in NBA All-Star Balloting for the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, after the fifth returns in the NBA All-Star 2002 balloting program.

The fans, through the NBA All-Star 2002 balloting program, will determine starters for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, to be played at The First Union Center in Philadelphia on Sunday, Feb. 10.

Carter leads all players in votes received with 1,287,003 at forward in the East, followed by Boston's Antoine Walker (470,194). Philadelphia's Dikembe Mutombo leads all Eastern Conference centers with 544,403, followed by Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal (351,773), while Washington's Michael Jordan leads all East guards with 865,501 votes, followed by Philadelphia's Allen Iverson (781,344).

Vince Carter leads all players in All-Star Balloting
Ron Hoskins/NBA/Getty Images
O’Neal is tops among Western Conference centers with 1,123,893 votes, followed by Sacramento's Vlade Divac (241,247). Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett leads all West forwards with 769,879 votes, followed by San Antonio's Tim Duncan (619,877). L.A. Lakers' Kobe Bryant (1,006,791) and Houston's Steve Francis (371,733) lead all West guards.

NBA All-Star Balloting began on Nov. 15 and in addition to being distributed in all 29 NBA arenas, NBA All-Star ballots had their greatest online reach ever with ballots available on NBA.com and America Online (AOL Keyword: NBA All-Star). Sprite.com, champssports.com, and reebok.com also provided links to the NBA.com All-Star Balloting page. Ballots were available at 573 Champs Sports stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Sprite encouraged fans to cast All-Star ballots by promoting balloting on 40 million two and three liter bottles. Fans outside of the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico voted for their favorite players online through NBA.com.

Balloting for this year’s All-Star game concluded on Jan. 13 and the starters for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game will be announced on Saturday, Jan. 26. All 29 NBA head coaches will then vote for the remaining members of the All-Star teams in their respective conferences, and their selections will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

The 2002 NBA All-Star Game will be broadcast on NBC, CTV in Canada, ESPN RADIO and audio in several languages on NBA.com (http://www.nba.com) on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. ET. Attached are the leaders among the Eastern and Western Conference players in the fifth returns of the NBA All-Star 2002 voting program:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards: Vince Carter (Tor) 1,287,003; Antoine Walker (Bos) 470,194; Grant Hill (Orl) 361,660; Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Atl) 264,448; Kenyon Martin (NJ) 181,821; Glenn Robinson (Mil) 160,485; Keith Van Horn (NJ) 133,823; Antonio Davis (Tor) 108,235; Jamal Mashburn (Cha) 86,108; Mike Miller (Orl) 79,205.

Guards: Michael Jordan (Was) 865,501; Allen Iverson (Phi) 781,344; Tracy McGrady (Orl) 393,932; Jason Kidd (NJ) 365,826; Ray Allen (Mil) 289,735; Paul Pierce (Bos) 211,407; Latrell Sprewell (NY) 105,360; Jerry Stackhouse (Det) 83,395; Reggie Miller (Ind) 76,961; Baron Davis (Cha) 69,616.

Centers: Dikembe Mutombo (Phi) 544,403; Jermaine O'Neal (Ind) 351,773; Alonzo Mourning (Mia) 234,430; Marcus Camby (NY) 198,027; Hakeem Olajuwon (Tor) 179,034; Ben Wallace (Det) 86,301; Patrick Ewing (Orl) 81,250; Elden Campbell (Cha) 47,261; Ervin Johnson (Mil) 44,277; Jahidi White (Was) 36,214.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Forwards: Kevin Garnett (Min) 769,879; Tim Duncan (SA) 619,877; Chris Webber (Sac) 462,864; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 326,201; Peja Stojakovic (Sac) 246,030; Scottie Pippen (Por) 148,251; Elton Brand (LAC) 130,567; Karl Malone (Uta) 126,707; Rasheed Wallace (Por) 126,152; Rick Fox (LAL) 112,393.

Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,006,791; Steve Francis (Hou) 371,733; Gary Payton (Sea) 305,031; Stephon Marbury (Pho) 242,808; Michael Finley (Dal) 235,814; Steve Nash (Dal) 222,964; Mike Bibby (Sac) 187,491; Anfernee Hardaway (Pho) 184,237; Jason Williams (Mem) 142,447; John Stockton (Uta) 130,781.

Centers: Shaquille O’Neal (LAL) 1,123,893; Vlade Divac (Sac) 241,247; David Robinson (SA) 202,104; Shawn Bradley (Dal) 63,916; Raef LaFrentz (Den) 44,582; Lorenzen Wright (Mem) 43,779; Dale Davis (Por) 43,074; Michael Olowokandi (LAC) 33,623; John Amaechi (Utah) 33,287; Kelvin Cato (Hou) 32,241.

TOP 10 OVERALL
Vince Carter (Tor) 1,287,003
Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) 1,123,893
Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,006.791
Michael Jordan (Was) 865,501
Allen Iverson (Phi) 781,344
Kevin Garnett (Min) 769,879
Tim Duncan (SA) 619,877
Dikembe Mutombo (Phi) 544,403
Antoine Walker (Bos) 470,194
Chris Webber (Sac) 462,864