AROUND THE NBA : Mullin Leads Worthy in All-Star Voting

Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors moved ahead of James Worthy of the Lakers for the second Western Conference forward position in the most recent count of the fans’ NBA All-Star votes.

Mullin, a two-time all-star, had 145,990 votes to Worthy’s 134,150 in the last count. Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz leads all forwards with 224,768.

The All-Star game will be played in Charlotte, N.C., on Feb. 10. Balloting will continue through Jan. 23.

David Robinson of San Antonio remained the conference’s leading vote-getter with 258,063 at the center position. The leading guards were Magic Johnson of the Lakers with 215,863 and Clyde Drexler of Portland with 124,060.

Drexler was in a close battle with Kevin Johnson of Phoenix (123,835) and John Stockton of Utah (121,158) for the No. 2 guard spot.

Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls continued to lead all vote-getters in the Eastern Conference.

Jordan, an All-Star for each of his six seasons in the league, has received 418,675 votes, well in front of Detroit’s Isiah Thomas, second with 174,568.

At the forwards, the East leaders are Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers with 312,640, and Boston’s Larry Bird, a 10-time selection, who has 285,805. Both Bird (back) and Barkley (ankle) are sidelined with injuries.

New York’s Patrick Ewing continues to lead at center with 292,330, far ahead of Boston’s Robert Parish, who has 92,528.

Stu Jackson, fired earlier this season as coach of the New York Knicks, was named to the new post of director of basketball operations for the NBA today.

NBA Vice President Rod Thorn said Jackson would join him and Matt Winick, director of scheduling and game operations, as a member of the department responsible for all game-related matters.

Jackson will assume his duties on Jan. 28.

Jackson, 35, replaced Rick Pitino as coach of the Knicks last season, leading the team to a 45-37 record and the playoffs. He was fired Dec. 3 after the Knicks got off to a 7-8 start.