Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The outcome was an expected one, though the Miami Heat sure did try to change it a little.
Earlier tonight during TNT‘s NBA pre-game show, the starters for the league’s All-Star game in Houston were announced. No real surprises emerged from the announcement, as the Heat’s LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were named among the starters for the Eastern Conference.
James is going to the All-Star game for the ninth straight season while currently having one of the most efficient seasons of his career. He is coming off joining both the 20,000 point and 5,000 assist clubs in a blowout victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. James is also coming off a streak where he scored at least 20 points in Miami’s first 33 games. While he was the leading vote-getter in the East, James came in second in overall fan voting to Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers by only 7,791 votes.
Wade has rebounded from a slow start this season, and is also appearing in the ninth straight All-Star game of his career. He is still among the league’s best guards, and is featuring more of a post game this season. Wade was the lead vote-getter among backcourt players in the East with 1,052,310 votes.
While James and Wade got the starting nod by fans, the other member of the Heat’s ‘Big 3′ fell short. Chris Bosh had hoped to get the starting All-Star nod when he moved to the center position and after Dwight Howard was traded away from the East. The NBA’s decision to eliminate the center position from the All-Star ballot changed the dynamic. Even after a voting campaign to get Bosh as a starter was launched by the Heat with James and Wade leading the charge, he ended up 25,208 votes behind Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics.
Bosh will very likely be among the All-Star reserves selected by coaches next week.
