Lakers' Andrew Bynum making All-Star push

Center is close to joining Toronto's Chris Bosh as the only players in the league averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Andrew Bynum, forgotten man?

Amid all the attention heaped upon the return of Pau Gasol, the Lakers' 22-year-old center served notice that, um, he's still playing too.

Bynum had 25 points on nine-for-11 shooting in the Lakers' 101-85 victory Sunday over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also had nine rebounds and made all seven of his free throws in almost 29 minutes.

Toronto forward-center Chris Bosh is the only player in the league averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, though Bynum is close to being there too.

He is now averaging 19.9 points and 11.2 rebounds.

Are the All-Star voters paying attention?

"I hope to make it," Bynum said. "That's really a goal I had coming into this season. I think I'm playing at the level I need to be playing. All I can do is get votes now. I've got to keep it up."

The All-Star game is Feb. 14 in Dallas.

Bynum didn't seem affected Sunday after sitting out two days of practice to rest a sore right ankle that he rolled Thursday against Chicago.

With Gasol often setting up in the high post, there's plenty of room for Bynum to operate down low.

"As the season goes on, both of us are going to do better together," Bynum said. "I think we'll be a stronger team because everybody will be scoring. We'll be able to get more assists. A lot less double-teaming [by opponents], and we'll be able to be more efficient."

Gasol is averaging 19.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists in two games. He missed 11 games because of a strained right hamstring.

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, who often bites his tongue when asked to positively assess Bynum's game, was no different Sunday.

He wants to see more from Bynum in the defensive end.

"Offensively, he did fine. I'll say that for sure," Jackson said. "Defensively, he wasn't at the [proper] rotation. He didn't run back on defense. Those are the type of things that I'm always pushing him to do a little bit more work on."

Opponents apparently see otherwise.

Oklahoma City Coach Scott Brooks said the combination of Bynum and Gasol on defense was "very difficult" to penetrate.

"They're long. They protect the rim, they protect the paint," Brooks said. "They're not playing with their hands down. They are a very talented defensive team that passes the ball very well."

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NBA sets '10 All-Star Game at new Cowboys stadium

Danny Turner/ESPN.com

DALLAS -- The NBA All-Star Game is coming to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in 2010 and plenty of good seats are available -- more than 100,000.
 Living up to the old adage about doing things bigger in Texas, the Dallas Mavericks and Cowboys are collaborating on hosting next season's showcase event. It will be among the first major events at the soon-to-be-completed, $1.1 billion facility in nearby Arlington.
Citing sources, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported Tuesday that the Mavericks with the NFL's Cowboys would host the 2010 All-Star Game.
And if all goes according to plan, this event will set the record for the largest crowd ever to watch an NBA game, shattering the mark of 44,735 set at the 1989 All-Star Game, not-so-coincidentally held at another Texas-sized venue, the Houston Astrodome.
"It's totally outrageous," NBA commissioner David Stern said.
Just wait until he hears Mavs owner Mark Cuban's idea about putting the record out of reach.
"If we can get people to sit on each other's laps, it could be 200,000," Cuban said, laughing.
The 2010 All-Star weekend is being hyped as a collaboration between teams and cities. Some events will be held at the Dallas Convention Center, with the Mavericks' arena hosting the rookie game on Friday night and the Saturday night festivities, which include the 3-point and dunk contests.
The marquee game will be Sunday, with center court right at midfield of the football stadium.
"We've got complete flexibility with the configuration," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "That's what we spent a lot of money on, to adapt it to these kinds of events."
The Cowboys are also trying to lure Final Fours. They've already landed the 2011 Super Bowl, as well as the Cotton Bowl, starting Jan. 1, 2010.
The All-Star announcement came during an outdoor news conference that was as over-the-top as the attendance goal. Marv Albert was the master of ceremonies, the Mavericks dancers took part and it ended with a 10-second countdown to the unveiling of the game's logo, which features a version of the Cowboys' star logo in blue and green, the Mavericks' colors.
Cuban used to be against hosting the All-Star Game because he couldn't accommodate his fans and the league's commitments. But having it in Jones' stadium makes everyone happy.
"I started thinking about it the minute I heard of [the stadium plans]," Cuban said. "It was just a question of whether the NBA would go along with it."
Mavs president Terdema Ussery said it took Stern four months to approve their proposal.
"I just wanted to make sure my guys didn't think it wasn't so crazy, and I didn't think it wasn't so crazy," Stern said.
The game will be on Feb. 14, 2010. This season's game will be in Phoenix.
The All-Star Game was in Dallas once before, in 1986. The 3-point contest started that year as the brainchild of a team executive and local product Spud Webb won the dunk contest.
The last football stadium to host the NBA All-Star Game was San Antonio's Alamodome in 1996.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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2010 NBA All-Star Game ballot unveiled

DALLAS -- The 2010 NBA All-Star Ballot was unveiled today during a special tipoff event in Dallas, the official Host City of NBA All-Star 2010. NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile will begin Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ET. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game, which will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before an expected crowd of more than 80,000 -- the largest group ever to witness a live basketball game -- on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.
2010 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile, with associate partner 2K Sports, allows fans around the world to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. For the first time in balloting history, fans can vote for All-Stars any time by texting a player's last name from their mobile phones. Fans can cast one SMS vote per day, per phone number.
There are several ways fans can cast their votes, including: at each NBA arena; in 20 languages on NBA.com; and through mobile phones by texting the player's last name to 6-9-6-2-2 ("MYNBA"), via Web2Go® on T-Mobile phones or wap.nba.com for any wireless carrier. A T-Mobile-branded All-Star Balloting widget will also be available on NBA.com so that fans can "grab" the widget and place it on their blogs, social network pages or personal Web sites allowing others to vote directly from the widget. Paper balloting will continue through January 10, while wireless balloting and voting on NBA.com will conclude January 18. Starters will be announced live on TNT on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.
The NBA All-Star ballot lists 120 players -- 60 each from the Eastern and Western conferences -- with 24 guards, 24 forwards, and 12 centers from each conference comprising the list. Voters select two guards, two forwards and one center from each conference. The 120 players on the ballot were selected by a panel of media who regularly cover the NBA: Mike Breen (ABC/ESPN), Eddie Sefko (Dallas Morning News), Doug Smith (The Toronto Star and President, Pro Basketball Writers Association) Marc Spears (Yahoo! Sports), Marc Stein (ESPN.com) and Ian Thomsen (Sports Illustrated).
NBA All-Star 2010 in Dallas will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league's history for a global celebration of the game. The week leading up to the 59th NBA All-Star Game will feature a full slate of community-enhancing activities and fan festivals, including NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. This will be the second NBA All-Star in Dallas. The city also hosted the event in 1986.
In conjunction with All-Star Balloting, 2K Sports will give fans the opportunity to experience Dallas and the best of basketball by entering the NBA® 2K10 Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to NBA All-Star 2010 and have their likeness as a digitized player incorporated in next year's game, NBA® 2K11.
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