Barkley Edging Kemp in Voting

Houston’s Charles Barkley continues to lead vote-getters in fan balloting for the Western Conference All-Star team, but his margin over Seattle’s Shawn Kemp is shrinking.

Barkley, a 10-time all-star, has received 786,811 votes to Kemp’s 785,813--a difference of only 998 votes. Last week, Barkley led Kemp by 7,995 votes. Utah’s Karl Malone is third at 642,155.

Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon is the leader at center with 693,564 votes. O’Neal is second with 563,631. Brian Williams, who hasn’t played this season, is 10th at 31,845.

Seattle’s Gary Payton (553,747) and Utah’s John Stockton (479,210) are 1-2 in guard voting.

The game will be played Feb. 9 at Cleveland.

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Charlotte Hornet forward-center Matt Geiger underwent successful surgery to remove a herniated disk from his back and is expected to be sidelined for eight weeks.