NBA All Star Starters, including YAO

Last night, the NBA unveiled the 2011 NBA All Star game. As usual, there was one or two incorrect picks by the fans. Here are the starters:

EASTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS

G- Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls)
G- Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat)
F- Lebron James (Miami Heat)
F- Amar'e Stoudemire (New York Knicks)
C- Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic)

The only player you could really make a case for in the east would be Rajon Rondo and he will obviously be a reserve. That shows you how good the Eastern Conference is getting.

WESTERN CONFERENCE STARTERS

G- Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
G- Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)
F- Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
F- Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets)
C- Yao Ming (Houston Rockets)

I am glad to see a member of the Houston Rockets on there, but Yao clearly doesn't deserve to be there. If they are going by a "true center" I can't think of anyone in the west who's having an all star season, save for maybe Nene. I would put Kevin Love or Pau Gasol on the list, but I don't know if David Stern would be looking to add either at the five. Other than that, it's hard to really argue with the other four picks. You could switch out Durant and Anthony with about four other forwards. Most of them will be reserves.

Seven reserves will be named for each conference next Thursday. There will also be an extra roster spot added to replace Yao Ming out West. Here are my predictions for those spots...

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Al Horford, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Raymond Felton, and Elton Brand. That makes four Celtics I realize. I could see Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, and possibly Jameer Nelson make this list in place of Felton or Brand.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Pau Gasol, Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Love, Manu Ginobli, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Nene. The last two players I left off were Steve Nash and Tim Duncan. If they elect to put Gasol at Center, I could see Duncan or Nash making it in place of Nene. I can think of at least sixteen players that could have been in this spot.

Reserves will be announced next Thursday February 3 on TNT and the actual game itself will be on February 20 at Staples Center in LA. No word as to whether or not Jeremy Burke will be in attendance yet.