The NBA announced today that Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are all in second place at their respective positions in voting for the Western Conference after the first returns of 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by Sprint.

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game, which will air live at 5 p.m. PT on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at the Amway Center on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.

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Paul is second in voting for Western Conference guards with 540,173 votes behind the Lakers Kobe Bryant (690,613). Griffin, who leads the Clippers with 23.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game is second in votes for forwards with 394,264 votes behind Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (633,538). Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, the NBA leader in blocks per game is currently second in Western Conference voting with 134,961 votes trailing only the Lakers Andrew Bynum (496,597).

2012 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by Sprint gives fans around the world the opportunity to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. There are several ways fans can cast their votes as part of this season’s all-digital program, including in 16 languages on NBA.com or by visiting m.NBA.com on any wireless carrier. Fans also can vote through mobile phones by texting the player's last name to 6-9-6-2-2 ("MYNBA") in the U.S. and to 3-8-6-5-7 ("DUNKS") in Canada. Sprint customers in the U.S. can also access the ballot and vote through the new “Sprint NBA Mobile” application, the most comprehensive app in the marketplace for NBA fans.

2012 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by Sprint also includes expanded SMS voting. Fans can now vote for 10 different players per day, per phone number, via SMS voting by sending 10 separate SMS messages, each one with a different player's last name. Fans can vote for All-Stars via SMS at any time by texting from their mobile phones. Message and data rates may apply. Previously, fans could cast one SMS vote for one player per day.

Fans can vote directly on NBA.com or use their Facebook profile information to help create an NBA.com All-Access account, which enables them to complete a ballot. After submitting their All-Star selections, fans will have the ability to share them with their friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter, and encourage others to cast their ballots.

Wireless and SMS balloting, as well as voting on NBA.com, will conclude on Jan. 31. Starters will be announced live on TNT on Feb. 2, during a special one-hour pregame show at 4 p.m. PT.

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