<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> When the NBA released its All-Star ballot earlier this week, Tim Duncan was listed at center instead of power forward.</p> </p> That distinction is significant. It means he will be competing for votes against Houston's Yao Ming, whose ability to carry China perennially renders him the Western Conference's top vote-getter.</p> </p> "I'm going to try to get everybody to vote every day for the next three years," Duncan said, "and I'm still going to be behind by three million."</p> </p> Duncan has made the All-Star team in each of his 10 seasons in the league, starting every game but his first. -- <font color="#000000">San Antonio Express-News</font></p> </div></p>
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3122850</p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The NBA shifted Tim Duncan from center to forward on its All-Star ballot on Wednesday, boosting the San Antonio player's chances of making his ninth consecutive start. The seven-member media panel that selected the players for the original ballot had Duncan as a center, even though he has always been listed as a forward. He was voted to start for the Western Conference each of the last eight seasons, but that streak would have been in jeopardy if he was a center. "It's great. I have an opportunity to make the team now," Duncan said after the Spurs 128-110 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. "To have an opportunity to be back on the ballot and to be at the forward, and to have a chance to start, it's an honor."</div></p>
