Carter Is the Leading All-Star

For the fourth time, Toronto Raptor forward Vince Carter led all players in the voting for the NBA All-Star game, tying for second all-time.

Carter received 2,127,183 votes in final results released Thursday for the Feb. 15 game at Staples Center.

Julius Erving also led four times. Michael Jordan holds the record with nine.

Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal will be the other starting forward for the Eastern Conference. The center is Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons, and the guards are Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson and Orlando’s Tracy McGrady.

Kobe Bryant led Western Conference guards with 1,759,717 votes. Bryant’s teammate, Shaquille O’Neal, was beaten out for the second straight year by Houston’s Yao Ming. Yao edged O’Neal by fewer than 32,000 votes. Bryant was fourth in the overall voting, also trailing Wallace (1,982,251) and Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett (1,780,918), last year’s All-Star game most valuable player.

Joining Bryant, Yao and Garnett on the Western Conference squad were Rocket guard Steve Francis and San Antonio forward Tim Duncan.

The 29 head coaches will vote for the reserves in their respective conferences. Those results will be announced Tuesday.

Indiana’s Rick Carlisle will coach the Eastern Conference. Flip Saunders of the Minnesota Timberwolves will lead the West.

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The Chicago Bulls are within days of completing a contract settlement with point guard Jay Williams, recuperating from a motorcycle accident that has jeopardized his career, said his agent, Bill Duffy.

The settlement is believed to be worth more than $3 million.

Riding a motorcycle violates the standard NBA contract, and the Bulls could have terminated Williams’ deal after the accident June 19. He severed a main nerve in his leg, fractured his pelvis and tore three of the four main ligaments in his left knee.

Though returning to the NBA appears to be a longshot, Duffy said that remains the goal of Williams, the No. 2 pick in the 2002 draft.