Howard will be joined in the Eastern Conference frontcourt by forwards Kevin Garnett of Boston and LeBron James of Cleveland, while Detroit's Allen Iverson and Miami's Dwyane Wade round out the conference's starting five.
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant led all Western Conference vote-getters with 2,805,397, beating San Antonio forward Tim Duncan (2,578,168) and Houston center Yao Ming (2,532,958). Bryant, Duncan and Yao will be joined on the West roster by New Orleans guard Chris Paul and Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire.
Now comes the fun part.
In selecting the reserves, who will be announced on January 29, the 30 NBA head coaches must vote for seven players within their conference, including two guards, two forwards, a center and two players regardless of position.
The Eastern Conference is loaded with talented guards. New Jersey's Devin Harris, Atlanta's Joe Johnson and Boston's Ray Allen are all certainly having All-Star type seasons, but no one deserves a spot in this year's mid-season classic more than Howard's point guard in the Magic Kingdom -- Jameer Nelson.
The NBA's most improved player, Nelson is averaging a career-best 17.1 points and dishing out 5.3 assists per game for the 33-9 Magic. The former Saint Joseph's star is shooting a sizzling 50.6 percent from the floor -- a mark almost unheard of these days for a 6-foot player -- and 44.3 percent from long range.
It's not a complete surprise that Nelson is excelling. After winning a pair of state championships at Chester High School near Philadelphia, he dominated the college game during his stint under Phil Martelli at SJU.
Nelson was a unanimous National Freshman of the Year selection with the Hawks and, after a sensational junior season in 2002-2003, declared for the NBA Draft before changing his mind and remaining in school for his senior season.
It was a great decision and Nelson became the most decorated player in the nation during the 2003-2004 season, leading St. Joe's to a perfect 27-0 regular season record.
Nelson and Delonte West, who is now playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, formed what was largely considered the country's best backcourt, helping the Hawks earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They advanced all the way to the Elite Eight and were within seconds of a Final Four appearance before Oklahoma State's John Lucas III buried a three-pointer to end the Hawks' dream season.
St. Joseph's finished with a 30-2 record, the best in the university's history, and Nelson averaged 20.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.9 steals per game. He won the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, leaving the Hawks as their all-time leader in scoring (2094 points), assists (714), and steals (256).
Simply put, Nelson was the best player in the program's history,
"I'm not sure we will ever have another one like him," Martelli told me during a phone interview. "The charisma, the talent, the way he handled himself on and off the floor.
"Of course, we will always try but he set the standard here. He has that special quality and held up his head through all the ups and downs."
No one knows Nelson better than his college coach and Martelli isn't surprised the point guard has stepped up his play after going through the biggest down point in his life in 2007.
On August 30, 2007, Nelson's father, Floyd "Pete" Nelson was reported missing after disappearing at his Chester tugboat repair shop, located along the docks of the Delaware River.
Early in the investigation, authorities said no one saw Floyd Nelson fall into the water and Jameer arrived at the search site the next morning. Three days later, Floyd Nelson's body was found floating in the Delaware.
"He got through that tragedy with his father and kept working," Martelli said. "He is just an extremely hard worker. He worked at basketball for years. Nothing was given to him. He has never been afraid to go to the gym alone and I think he now knows what (Orlando coach) Stan Van Gundy wants and he is focusing on continuing to improve."
Has Nelson improving enough to be an All-Star?
Perhaps, but Martelli is more impressed by other things.
"You know we sit here on the brink of Jameer becoming an NBA All-Star and I can't help thinking he's a better person than a player."
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