The All-Star Center is Officially Extinct The notion of an All-Star center is officially defunct -- at least on the ballot that determined N.B.A. All-Stars. The N.B.A., bowing to new realities in a multi-positional era, has eliminated "center" from its All-Star ballots for the 2012-13 season. Instead, fans will vote for three frontcourt players and two guards. The change was announced Wednesday by Stu Jackson, the league's executive vice president, who said that listing center as a separate category is "outdated and not representative of today's game or players." The true center -- the hulking, plodding, back-to-the-basket force who once ruled the paint -- has all but vanished from the modern game. Today's N.B.A. is filled with centers who play like forwards and forwards masquerading as centers. Many teams are deploying "small" lineups without a single 7-footer, or at least none that play in the paint. Boston used the mobile, athletic Kevin Garnett -- who has always played at power forward -- as their default center last season. Miami plans to do the same this season with Chris Bosh, another forward who has never considered himself a center. The Phoenix Suns became a Western Conference powerhouse in the mid-2000s with the hyper-athletic, jump-shooting Amar'e Stoudemire as their center. Until now, center was the only specific position listed on N.B.A. All-Star ballots, which otherwise listed simply "guards" and "forwards," without dividing them into subcategories. "Our players have become more versatile each season," Jackson said, "and this ballot will more accurately reflect that versatility." Unspoken, but just as important: The change means that fans no longer have to vote for mediocre big men just to conform with an artificial positional designation. That means fewer votes for the Marcin Gortats, DeAndre Jordans and Joel Anthonys of the league, and potentially more for Bosh, Kevin Love and Serge Ibaka. It means the N.B.A. can avoid a repeat of 2004, when Jamaal Magloire earned an All-Star slot, simply because the East lacked any worthy centers. It also removes some confusion from the process. San Antonio's Tim Duncan has for years been listed as a forward on All-Star ballots, although he plays more like a traditional center. It caused annual consternation in the balloting, because the Western Conference often had a logjam at forward and, in some years, a dearth of outstanding centers. The ballot change will be a blow, however, to the handful of true centers who, under the right circumstances, might have broken through for an All-Star nod. That includes the Knicks' Tyson Chandler, an outstanding defender who does not score much; and the Nets' Brook Lopez, a great low-post scorer who does not defend much. Now that they are lumped in with small forwards and power forwards, neither one stands much of a chance in the balloting.