.jpg)
ORLANDO -- It's pretty much a given that when the 61st annual NBA All-Star game is played here at the Amway Arena, Dwight Howard will be the starting center. But he may not be alone.
Three other Magic players are on the All-Star ballot: Point guard Jameer Nelson, shooting guard Jason Richardson and small forward Hedo Turkoglu. Richardson has had a phenomenal start in the early going of this contracted season following the lockout, but Howard is clearly the star attraction not only on the Magic squad, but the league as a whole.
All eyes will be on the four-time All-Star with the likely trade talk swirling gain as the NBA's best come to town with the likes of LeBron James of the Miami Heat, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The last time Orlando hosted the All-Star game was 1992, with Magic Johnson's return to the NBA after his shocking announcement that he had contracted the HIV virus. Johnson won the game's most valuable player award.
Highlights of the Feb. 9, 1992, game were shown Wednesday as the Magic and the league joined in announcing the start of balloting for the All-Star Game. Magic Johnson led the West to a 153-113 blowout over the Eastern Conference all stars.
Howard said he's pumped about the game: "It is special having it here. We've been talking about this for the last couple of years and how we were going to make this game very exciting and good for our city... We're looking forward to putting on a good show for Orlando.''
Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins is geared up for the big game, Orlando's first in 25 years, describing the setting as the "capital of the basketball world." And why not? Other than LeBron, Howard is considered the second best player in the NBA and its premier center.
And with 100,000 guests expected to fill up 30,000 hotel room nights, generating a $100 million shot in the arm for greater Orlando and Central Florida as a whole, Martins said
"This event comes at a time when our local economy could use a boost,'' the Magic's top executive said Wednesday after the NBA All-Star ballot was unveiled announcing the Magic players tabbed. "We're coming off a year in which our city had the best visitation of any city in the country with more than 51 million people. Certainly our downtown economy could use the boost."
