(TORONTO - January 31, 2008) -- The NBA announced Thursday that Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh was named as a reserve to the Eastern Conference team for the 2008 All-Star Game to be held Sunday, February 17 in New Orleans. Bosh finished third among Eastern Conference forwards with 838,498 votes in the NBA All-Star balloting program that determines starters for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.
This is the second time in three years that Bosh has been selected as a reserve. Bosh’s three All-Star appearances rank second in franchise history to Vince Carter, who participated in five All-Star Games as a Raptor between 2000-04.
A product of Georgia Tech in his fifth season, Bosh leads the team in scoring (22.7), rebounding (9.1), minutes (36.0) and double-doubles (20). He has paced the Raptors in scoring on 23 occasions, including a career-high 42-point outing December 22 at Phoenix. He has led the team in rebounding 26 times, with a season-high 19 November 21 at Memphis.
Bosh became the second Raptor in team history to be voted as a starter on the Eastern Conference All-Star team in 2007, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds in 22:29 minutes of play. He was selected as a reserve for the Eastern Conference team in 2006, netting eight points to go with eight rebounds in 16:35 minutes. Prior to 2006, he participated in All-Star Weekend in 2004 and 2005 as a member of the Rookie and Sophomore teams, respectively, in the Rookie Challenge game. He had eight points in the contest as a rookie and tallied 26 points with a game-high 14 rebounds and four steals to lead the Sophomores to a 133-106 win.
At 25-20 this season, Toronto is second in the Atlantic Division and currently occupies the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. The Raptors return to action Friday night when they host the Los Angeles Lakers at Air Canada Centre.
First-time All-Star selections Chris Paul and David West of New Orleans are joined by fellow first-time selection Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers as Western Conference reserves, along with Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz, Steve Nash and Amaré Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns, and the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki.
Bosh joins fellow East reserves Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison of the Washington Wizards, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce.
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 centre and two players regardless of position. They were not permitted to vote for players from their own team.
Previously selected as starters for the East through the 2008 NBA All-Star Balloting Program presented by T-Mobile were Boston’s Kevin Garnett, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Orlando’s Dwight Howard, New Jersey’s Jason Kidd and Miami’s Dwyane Wade. Denver’s Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, Houston’s Yao Ming, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan will start for the West.
The selections of Nash (Canada) and Nowitzki (Germany) along with voted-starters Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands) and Yao (China), gives the 2008 NBA All-Star Game four international players.
Should any player be unable to participate in the All-Star Game due to injury, NBA Commissioner David Stern will select the replacement.
Boston head coach Doc Rivers and his coaching staff will be on the sidelines for the Eastern Conference All-Stars, as the Celtics previously clinched the best winning percentage through games of Feb. 3 among eligible Eastern Conference teams for All-Star coaching honours. The Western Conference coaching scenario has yet to be determined, with the staffs of the Dallas Mavericks (31-13, .705) and New Orleans Hornets (32-13, .711) still in contention. The coaching staff of either Dallas or New Orleans, depending on which owns the best winning percentage through games of Feb. 3, will lead the Western Conference All-Stars.
All of this year's All-Star participants will join over 2,500 members of the NBA Family for the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service on Friday, Feb. 15. The volunteers will participate in a variety of service projects at 10 different sites throughout New Orleans.
The 2008 NBA All-Star uniforms were inspired by the uniqueness of New Orleans, the look and feel of the French Quarter, and the wrought iron architecture that is unique to the city. The back of the jerseys are silver for the West and gold for the East to represent the conference colors.
NBA All-Star 2008 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 NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas.
The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The game will also be telecast in over 200 countries and broadcast on NBA.com.
Fans will have the opportunity to submit their vote on NBA.com and their mobile phones and have it count towards selecting the MVP of the 57th NBA All-Star Game, as a part of the site's exclusive 2008 NBA All-Star coverage.
