NEW YORK, Jan. 26 -- Detroit forward Grant Hill narrowly edged Orlando center Shaquille O'Neal in final NBA All-Star Game fan balloting results announced Thursday, becoming the first rookie in the game's history to lead all players in votes received. Hill will be in the Eastern Conference starting lineup for the 45th annual All-Star Game, to be played Feb. 12 at the America West Arena in Phoenix. In the Western Conference, Phoenix forward Charles Barkley and guard Dan Majerle will become the second group of teammates to start in a an All-Star Game on their home court in the last three years. Hill had 1,289,585 votes to edge O'Neal by 26,134 votes in the final Eastern Conference returns. Guards Magic Johnson (1980) and Isiah Thomas (1982) had the previous best showing among rookies, as each finished third. Hill and O'Neal are joined in the Eastern Conference starting lineup by Chicago forward Scottie Pippen and guards Anfernee Hardaway of Orlando and Reggie Miller of Indiana. Barkley led West forwards with 1,046,105 votes, while Majerle led guards with 868,115 votes in the final Western Conference returns. The last group of teammates to start an All-Star Game on their home court were Karl Malone and John Stockton of the Utah Jazz, two years ago at Salt Lake City. Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon, last season's NBA Most Valuable Player, joins Barkley and Majerle among the West starters. Rounding out the lineup will be Seattle forward Shawn Kemp and Golden State guard Latrell Sprewell.
Olajuwon won a close race over David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs. Olajuwon finished with 1,125,032 votes, just 78,668 more than Robinson's total. Kemp also received more than a million votes, tallying 1,027,451. Jamal Mashburn of Dallas (742,815) was third among Western Conference forwards followed by Chris Mullin of Golden State (598,125). Sprewell will be the first Warriors guard to start in an NBA All-Star Game since Guy Rodgers represented the San Francisco Warriors in 1966. Sprewell received 861,223 votes. In the league's closest race for a starting position this season, Tim Hardaway of the Warriors finished in third-place among West guards with 853,784 votes, just 7,439 behind Sprewell. Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks finished second to O'Neal in the East center voting with 728,331 votes. Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets was third among forwards with 698,931 votes, followed by Chris Webber of the Washington Bullets (491, 783). Mark Price of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who will miss the next six to eight weeks with a broken wrist, was third among guards with 854,771 votes followed by Joe Dumars of Detroit (826,935). The head coaches will be determined by the team who has the best record after Sunday's games. The Orlando Magic, coached by Brian Hill, have already clinched the top spot in the East. Paul Westphal of Phoenix or Jerry Sloan of Utah will coach the West team. George Karl of Seattle coached the West last year and, in accordance with league rules, cannot coach in back-to-back All-Star games. All-Star reserves will be announced next Tuesday.
