As the league continues to get smaller and smaller, the NBA's All-Star Ballot will undergo a significant change this season and the center position will no longer appear on it.
According to TNT Analyst David Aldridge the league will announce Wednesday for the first time fans will be allowed to vote for three undefined "frontcourt" players instead of having to vote for two forwards and a center.
"It makes sense,"VP of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson said Tuesday evening. "It made sense to our Competition Committee. Having a center is the only specific position that was singled out on the ballot. It just seemed a little outdated and didn't represent the way our game has evolved. By the same token, it also affords the same opportunity, if you have two good centers in a given year, pick 'em both. They both can be selected. Which is impossible right now."
This would be good news for players like Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett or Miami Heat's Chris Bosh who often play in between of their natural position of power forward and their secondary center positions. Under the old rules, Garnett and Bosh would have been placed on the same ballot as Philadelphia 76ers' center Andrew Bynum or Brooklyn Nets' center Brook Lopez.
The new rules will allow any of them to be selected as a "frontcourt" player.
The league will debut the 2013 All-Star ballot on Nov. 13. Players are selected for the ballot by a committee of national media who cover the NBA on a regular basis. The 2013 All-Star Game will be Feb. 17 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
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