This year's NBA All-Star Game featuring the best (popular) players of the NBA will be at the Amway Center, home to Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic on February 26, 2012.

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and LeBron James of the Miami Heat top Eastern Conference, while Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder lead the Western Conference after the first returns of 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by Sprint. Howard, the Kia Defensive Player of the Year each of the past three seasons, is the overall leader with 754,737 votes.

Here's the leaders of the Eastern and Western Conference players of the 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting as of January 12, 2012, presented by Sprint:

Eastern Conference 2012 All-Star Balloting

Forwards:
LeBron James (Mia) 640,789
Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 496,351
Amar'e Stoudemire (NYK) 178,797
Kevin Garnett (Bos) 173,161; Chris Bosh (Mia) 140,601
Paul Pierce (Bos) 94,071
Luol Deng (Chi) 85,086
Andrea Bargnani (Tor) 54,739
Carlos Boozer (Chi) 53,477
Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 43,154.

Guards:
Derrick Rose (Chi) 640,476
Dwyane Wade (Mia) 637,912
Rajon Rondo (Bos) 253,969
Ray Allen (Bos) 174,934
Deron Williams (NJN) 89,128
Jose Calderon (Tor) 42,929
John Wall (Was) 38,025
Richard Hamilton (Chi) 36,418
Kyrie Irving (Cle) 27,713
Joe Johnson (Atl) 23,384.

Centers: Dwight Howard (Orl) 754,737
Joakim Noah (Chi) 75,038
Tyson Chandler (NYK) 61,774
Joel Anthony (Mia) 41,832
JaVale McGee (Was) 24,713
Al Horford (Atl) 23,546

Western Conference 2012 All-Star Balloting

Forwards:

Kevin Durant (OKC) 633,538
Blake Griffin (LAC) 394,264
Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 231,832
Pau Gasol (LAL) 185,428
Kevin Love (Min) 143,814
LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 118,268
Tim Duncan (SA) 81,783
Lamar Odom (Dal) 59,686
Metta World Peace (LAL) 39,006
Danilo Gallinari (Den) 34,438

Guards:
Kobe Bryant (LAL) 690,613
Chris Paul (LAC) 540,173
Ricky Rubio (Min) 133,520
Steve Nash (Pho) 118,922
Russell Westbrook (OKC) 107,197
Kyle Lowry (Hou) 90,725
Monta Ellis (GS) 63,696
Manu Ginobili (SA) 50,765
Jason Kidd (Dal) 49,596
Chauncey Billups (LAC) 42,657

Centers:
Andrew Bynum (LAL) 496,597
DeAndre Jordan (LAC) 134,961
Marc Gasol (Mem) 102,116
Nenê (Den) 94,167
Marcin Gortat (Pho) 62,631
Kendrick Perkins (OKC) 41,579