NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Houston's Yao Ming and Miami's Shaquille O'Neal were selected Thursday as the starting centers for the NBA All-Star Game.
The contest will be played Feb. 20 in Denver.
Balloting from fans all over the world determined the starters with Yao setting a record by collecting 2,558,278 votes. It will be his third consecutive start. Michael Jordan owned the old record at 2.451 million votes.
Yao will be joined in the Western Conference's starting lineup by Kevin Garnett of Minnesota, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Houston's Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
O'Neal received 2,488,089 votes, giving him a spot in the All-Star Game for the 12th time.
The other Eastern Conference starters will be Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Cleveland's LeBron James, New Jersey's Vince Garter and Orlando's Grant Hill.
The remainder of the rosters will be announced next Tuesday.
