Yao left the basketball world all too soon, but giants generally don’t last that long.  Though Yao was exceptionally coordinated and athletic for a giant, he still had giantism, and the effects on the bones in giants don’t lend themselves towards having long NBA careers.  Yao will still be able to walk and enjoy the remainder of his life.  Had he tried to play through pain, he might have permanently damaged his gait.

It’s sad to see Yao retire maybe three to five seasons before we had hoped he would, but it shouldn’t be surprising.  Greg Oden is having similar problems, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas was the exception to the rule, because usually when big men start having problems with their joints and/or bones, they don’t recover.  All of these big men placed extraordinary pressure on their joints to carry their enormous frames, and the human body has its limitations.

Today, the NBA released their final All Star vote totals leading up to the official announcement on January 27, 2011. The starting 5 for both conferences will be announced at 7pm on TNT.

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant lead the Western Conference and LeBron James and Dwight Howard lead the Eastern Conference. Bryant is the overall leader with 1,757,216 votes.

Celtics wise, there has been a change since the last release. Derrick Rose has passed Rajon Rondo and Amare Staudemire has passed Kevin Garnett.

If voting ended today, the starting lineups would feature:

East
LeBron James
Dwight Howard
Amare Staudemire
Derrick Rose
Dwayne Wade

West
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Durant
Yao Ming
Chris Paul
Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony’s votes would transfer to the Eastern Conference should be traded to the Knicks or Nets before the game. As it stands right now, Anthony would be in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference behind Staudemire and Garnett.

Paper balloting will continue through January 17th and wireless voting on NBA.com will conclude January 23rd.

The NBA All Star game will be played on February 20th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

I have a problem with Rondo being so far down on the list while point guards like Derrick Rose, Devin Harris, and Gilbert Arenas all rank higher. According to this list, Rondo is the 11th ranked Point Guard. Questionable. The list also throws Elton Brand in at 45th, Yao Ming at 15th, and Tracy McGrady at 24. Brand hasnt competed at a high level in 2 years, Yao Ming is done for, and TMac cant keep himself “healthy” enough to play a whole season.

The complete list can be found at: NBA’s Top 50 Players: All- Star Panel Picks Kobe Bryant No. 1 Over LeBron James

Comment with your objections to the list.