Utah Jazz: Four Jazz players make All-Star ballot

Utah Jazz fans hoping to finally get Deron Williams into the NBA All-Star Game now have their chance.

They'll also get an opportunity to vote for Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur.

The NBA released its 2010 NBA All-Star Ballot Tuesday morning in Dallas, where the 59th annual mid-season showdown of standouts will take place Sunday, Feb. 14.

The ballot includes those four Jazz players.

Though a gold-medal winner with Team USA and an All-NBA honoree, Williams has yet to be selected to the All-Star Game in four previous seasons. The star point guard is the only Jazz player listed on the Western Conference guard nominees.

However, Utah has multiple big men up for the starting nod awarded by fan votes.

Boozer, a two-time All-Star reserve, and his backup, Millsap, are both listed on the Western Conference ballot. Okur, also a former All-Star Mehmet, is listed among the top centers in the West.

A total of 120 players — 60 from each conference (24 guards, 24 forwards, 12 centers) — are listed on the official ballot. Coaches will pick the All-Star reserves after the starters are announced.

Fans will be able to vote in more ways than ever this year. The NBA is even allowing votes to be cast by texting as well as on NBA.com and at NBA arenas.

The All-Star Game will be played at the new Cowboys Stadium, and the NBA expects a crowd of 80,000 to watch live and set a basketball record for attendance.

To vote by phone, fans need to text a player's last name to 6-9-6-2-2 (MYNBA), via Web2Go on T-Mobile phones or wap.nba.com for all wireless carriers. One SMS vote per phone number is allowed per day.

Balloting widgets are also available at NBA.com for personal Web sites, blogs and social network pages.

The paper balloting will go through Jan. 10, and the wireless balloting will end on Jan. 18.

Voters may select two guards, two forwards and one center on their ballots.

The starters will be announced during a live presentation on Thursday, Jan. 21, on TNT.

According to a release by the NBA, a media panel selected the 120 players on the ballot. The group included: Mike Breen (ABC/ESPN), Eddie Sefko (Dallas Morning News), Doug Smith (The Toronto Star and President, Pro Basketball Writers Association), Marc Spears (Yahoo! Sports), Marc Stein (ESPN.com) and Ian Thomsen (Sports Illustrated).

Per tradition, the All-Star game will be preceded by a fan festival and NBA All-Star Jam Session.

Dallas last hosted the All-Star Game in 1986.