Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, forward Shawn Marion and center Amaré Stoudemire were named to the Western Conference All-Star team as three of the eight reserves today. The trio was voted on to the 12-man squad by the 15 Western Conference coaches. The Suns are the only NBA team with three All-Stars.

This is the fifth All-Star berth for Nash (2002, 2003 with Dallas; 2005, 2006, 2007 with Phoenix), fourth All-Star berth for Marion (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007), and second All-Star berth for Stoudemire (2005, 2007). The 56th NBA All-Star Game will be played in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 6:00 p.m. Phoenix time (8:00 p.m. ET) and will broadcast live on TNT. Suns Head Coach Mike D’Antoni has already been named the 2007 Western Conference All-Star Coach.  “Obviously the reason I’m there is because of these three guys and other guys on the Phoenix Suns,” said D’Antoni, the Suns Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager/Head Coach. “For them to get this, that’s really special.”

It’s just the third time in franchise history Phoenix will be represented by three players at the NBA All-Star Game and the second time that the trio of Nash, Marion and Stoudemire has done it (2005 in Denver). The Suns also sent three players (Walter Davis, Truck Robinson and Dennis Johnson) to the 1981 All-Star Game. Other than the Suns, the last Western Conference team to have three players on an All-Star roster was the Los Angeles Lakers, who had four in 1998.

The Suns’ 36-9 record (.800) matches the franchise’s best record through the first 45 games (1992-93 and 1994-95) and the team is on pace to finish with a club-record 66 wins. The 2006-07 Suns are just the fifth team in NBA history to post two separate win streaks of 15 games (15 and 17) in the same season and the first to do so before the All-Star break. Entering 2006-07, Phoenix had only one win streak longer than 12 (14 from Dec. 1-30, 1992) in its first 38 seasons (since 1968-69).

Nash, the reigning back-to-back NBA’s Most Valuable Player (2004-05, 2005-06) is averaging career-highs of 19.6 points and 12.0 assists, the most in the NBA since John Stockton (12.3 in 1994-95), in 42 games played this season. The 6-3, 178-pound playmaker is on pace to become the first NBA player to average over 19 points and 11 assists in a single season since Magic Johnson and former Sun Kevin Johnson did it in 1989-90.
Nash, who turns 33 next Tuesday and will make this fifth All-Star appearance over the last six seasons, also leads all NBA guards with a .536 field goal percentage and a .496 three-point field goal percentage (2nd in NBA). The Suns’ floor general has been named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week three times in 2006-07 and became the first player in franchise history to do so in consecutive weeks (Jan. 15-21, Jan. 22-28, 2007).

Marion, 28, is the only NBA player ranked in the top 35 in points (18.9, 31st), rebounds (10.1, T-11th), field goal percentage (.527, 19th), steals (2.13, 2nd), blocks (1.44, 21st), double-doubles (21, T-12th) and minutes (38.4, T-14th). The 6-7, 228-pound forward is one of only six NBA players (Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer, Zach Randolph, Jermaine O’Neal) to average at least 18 points and 10 rebounds this season.
The Matrix is just the fifth player in franchise history to make at least four All-Star appearances with the Suns, joining Walter Davis (6), Connie Hawkins (4), Paul Westphal (4) and Charles Barkley (4).

Stoudemire is the only NBA player ranked in the top 40 in scoring (18.6, 32nd) averaging fewer than 31 minutes per game (30.6). The five-year NBA veteran, who missed all but three games last season due to two separate knee surgeries, ranks fourth among NBA centers in scoring behind only Yao Ming, Eddy Curry and O’Neal. The 24-year-old also ranks third in the NBA with a career-best .604 field goal percentage and is tied for 15th with 8.9 rebounds. The 6-10, 245-pound center is the 14th player in team history to make an All-Star appearance at least twice in a Suns uniform.

The Western Conference All-Star team consists of starters Minnesota’s Garnett, San Antonio’s Duncan, Houston’s Yao and Tracy McGrady and L.A. Lakers’ Kobe Bryant. The reserves are Marion, Nash, Stoudemire, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Utah’s Boozer, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Denver’s Allen Iverson. Should any player be unable to participate in the All-Star Game due to injury, NBA Commissioner David Stern will select the replacement.
The Pacific Division leading Suns, who have won 35 of their last 39 games after a 1-5 start, host the San Antonio Spurs tonight in a nationally televised game on TNT at 8:30 p.m. local time at US Airways Center.

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