Eastern All-Stars

Fans selected Miami's Shaquille O'Neal by a wide margin to start at center, and deservedly so. O'Neal has unveiled a new facet of his greatness this season, allowing young star Dwyane Wade to lead the team in scoring and previously unknown players like Udonis Haslem and Damon Jones to make significant contributions, while he coordinates the offense and chooses opportune times to take over games. Thankfully, O'Neal is now in the East, where he will no longer face the indignity of backing up Yao Ming.

Among East centers, only Detroit's Ben Wallace and Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskus merit serious All-Star consideration. Wallace dominates defensively, while his offense is as bad as ever. Ilgauskus pairs a well-rounded, unselfish offensive game with unimpressive defense, especially considering he stands 7'3" in a conference of 6'10" and under centers. Wallace wins the spot because he is simply indispensable to his team, a fact made clear by the Pistons' ineptitude during his 6-game suspension. Ilgauskus is not enough of a consistent presence on either end of the floor to warrant inclusion.

Voters handed a late Christmas gift to Vince Carter, who will again take a spot from a far more deserving player. It's unclear how average Carter must prove to be before fans will stop checking his name automatically.

Fans redeemed themselves by rewarding Grant Hill, who deserves the spot even without considering his inspiring circumstances, for his all-around brilliance. However, that choice too is marred by the disturbing constancy of fans' voting - Hill gets hundreds of thousands of votes whether he plays or not. Regardless, Hill was the right choice this year.

Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal is unquestionably the East's best forward, so he gets the first of two reserve spots, setting up a choice between Washington's Antwan Jamison and Atlanta's Antoine Walker, two members of last year's misbegotten Mavericks team that have thrived as headliners in new cities. Jamison gets his first All-Star nod for his role in turning a dismal Wizards team into a legitimate conference contender. Walker is putting up huge numbers for a terrible team, a situation that rarely yields All-Star recognition. Ask Jamison, who scored well over 20 points a game for several years in Golden State without notice. Walker, however, has played well enough to be considered for one of the final two spots.

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