Yao books 6th all-star spot; Howard sets record

NEW YORK: China's Yao Ming received his sixth appearance in the Natioal Basketball Association All-Star Game on Thursday, booking a spot against Dwight Howard, the most popular vote-getter in NBA history.

Orlando's Dwight Howard set a record by receiving 3,150,181 fan votes to claim the starting center berth for the Eastern Conference in final results announced ahead of the 58th annual showcase event on February 15 at Phoenix, Arizona.

Howard will make his third All-Star appearance opposite Yao, who held the previous high mark of 2,558,278 from 2005. This year's five top vote-getters surpassed that mark with Yao's 2009 total of 2,532,958 just off his old mark.