Font ResizeSan Antonio » It took more than 2 million votes apiece for Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul to be selected as the Western Conference's starting guards for the 2009 All-Star Game, but Deron Williams ' representatives have a plan to reach that number.
With this year's game set to be played in Williams' hometown of Dallas, his representatives at McClaren Sports have launched a campaign at deronwilliams.com entitled "I am a fan ... This is my pledge" to encourage fans to vote daily.
"The whole goal is to create awareness of voting every day via online and text [messaging]," said Steve Wright , director of marketing at the Houston-based agency. "Every
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Williams acknowledged the difficulty in garnering votes while playing for a small-market team. He is considering filming a series of Internet videos similar to those that promoted his charity dodgeball tournament this summer and turned into viral sensations.
At the same time, Williams acknowledged that he must walk a fine line between letting his play do the talking -- he came into Thursday averaging 20.3 points and 9.8 assists -- and campaigning for recognition.
"That's what I don't really want to do," Williams said. "I don't want to have to try to beg for votes. But there's little things you can do to try to gain more."
Wright added that Williams
Injury report
Ronnie Price missed his fifth consecutive game with the sprained left big toe he suffered Nov. 9 at New York, but the Jazz have ruled out surgery for the backup point guard, who has undergone two MRI exams and consulted with a specialist in recent days.
"It was determined by a consensus of our doctors that any surgery would not benefit [Price's] return to play," athletic trainer Gary Briggs said.
Although they have not set a timetable for Price's return, the Jazz are hopeful he will be back playing in a fraction of the four to six weeks he would have missed because of surgery.
Mehmet Okur , meanwhile, also did not make the trip after missing Wednesday's victory over Toronto with flu-like symptoms. Okur was said to be doing better Thursday, with all indications that he is not suffering from the H1N1 virus.
Boozer better
Although he struggled to start the season, Carlos Boozer came into Thursday averaging 23.7 points and 14 rebounds on 56.9 percent shooting in the Jazz's past three games. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan noted that Boozer has been looking to pass more recently.
"He had a tendency to look for his shot specifically to start off the season," Sloan said. "I think he's looked to pass the ball more and finding guys cutting to the basket. That makes us better and it makes him better."
Sloan was asked if Boozer was benefiting as the controversy surrounding him at the start of the season has quieted.
"If we lose a game, it's his fault," Sloan said. "That's the way a lot of people already programmed that in to start with. Everything that he did had to be magnified or was magnified, like he missed a couple free throws last night and the fans got on him a little bit.
"Everybody's going to jump on him, waiting for him to make a mistake. That's the way life is. You have to fight through that."
