Arenas, Butler and Jamison Named to 2010 NBA All-Star Ballot

The official 2010 NBA All-Star ballot was unveiled today during a special tip-off event in Dallas, the Official Host City of NBA All-Star 2010. NBA All-Star Balloting will begin this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ET. The 59th NBA All-Star Game will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before an expected crowd of more than 80,000 – the largest group ever to witness a live basketball game, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.

Three Washington Wizards are featured on this year’s ballot; former All-Stars Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. Arenas is a three-time All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007) who was voted in by the fans as a starter in the 2007 game. Butler (2007 & 2008) and Jamison (2005 & 2008) have each made two All-Star appearances.

There are several ways fans can cast their votes, including: at each NBA arena; in 20 languages on NBA.com; and through mobile phones by texting the player’s last name to 6-9-6-2-2 (“MYNBA”), via Web2Go® on T-Mobile phones or wap.nba.com for any wireless carrier. A T-Mobile-branded All-Star Balloting widget will also be available on NBA.com so that fans can “grab” the widget and place it on their blogs, social network pages, or personal Web sites allowing others to vote directly from the widget.

The NBA All-Star ballot lists 120 players – 60 each from the Eastern and Western conferences – with 24 guards, 24 forwards, and 12 centers from each conference comprising the list. 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 who regularly cover the NBA: Mike Breen (ABC/ESPN), Eddie Sefko (Dallas Morning News), Doug Smith (The Toronto Star and President, Pro Basketball Writers Association) Marc Spears (Yahoo! Sports), Marc Stein (ESPN.com) and Ian Thomsen (Sports Illustrated).