Jazz center hopes to get All-Star Game invite

A door may have creaked opened to next month's NBA All-Star Game for one rather large Jazz player, and if it indeed has, center Mehmet Okur would not at all be shy about barging his way through.

"This is my dream," he said.

Here's how he may have a shot at living it:

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming — expected to be chosen by voters as the Western Conference's starter in the middle when final fan balloting results are revealed Thursday — said he will "definitely not" play in the Feb. 18 game at Las Vegas, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Even if Western Conference coaches select Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire as a backup center when reserves are formally announced Feb. 1, Okur could receive consideration as a replacement for Yao.

NBA commissioner David Stern taps the replacement for injured players, with input from the West's head coach.

One school of thought suggests Stern could name Denver's Marcus Camby, or perhaps a deserving power forward who gets snubbed.

Another, floated by the Houston newspaper, is that Rockets backup center Dikembe Mutombo should be considered for a ninth All-Star Game appearance — chiefly for how he's played while Yao's been out since Dec. 23 with a fractured tibia, but also for sentimental reasons to honor the lifelong achievements of a 40-year-old from the Congo.

"Why not Mutombo as the appointed replacement for Yao?" Chronicle columnist John P. Lopez wrote last week. "Suns star Amare Stoudemire and Denver's Marcus Camby likely will be the ones filling out the All-Star roster, but ... Mutombo has stepped in for Yao and proved he is among the greatest rebounders and shot-blockers. Ever."

In Utah, however, there is a grass-roots campaign of sorts underway for a certain 6-foot-11, 263-pounder from Turkey.

Leading Jazz scorer and rebounder Carlos Boozer undoubtedly will receive strong consideration for a backup forward spot, and point Deron Williams — though perhaps facing longshot odds — will at least by in the conversation when it comes to contemplating options at guard.

But Yao's absence — "Actually, it's pretty good to me to stay home, do my work and get back to the court," he told the Chronicle — may most benefit Okur's bid.

"Memo, particularly as of late, has come on really strong — and he's been consistent for us all year," said teammate Derek Fisher.