Payton Leads Kidd, Stockton In Voting

Around the NBA

Jason Kidd, injured in his first game with the Phoenix Suns, has moved into second place among Western Conference guards in fan balloting for the NBA’s Feb. 9 all-star game.

Kidd has 78,278 votes, second to Seattle’s Gary Payton, who has 117,978, and ahead of Utah’s John Stockton, who has 72,938.

Forward Shawn Kemp of Seattle leads all vote-getters with 152,722. Charles Barkley of Houston is second among forwards with 144,988, while Utah’s Karl Malone is third with 86,536. Hakeem Olajuwon leads the centers in balloting with 137,431, followed by Shaquille O’Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers, who has 112,894.

Starters will be announced Jan. 26.

New Jersey signs Werdann

The New Jersey Nets, looking for some inside help, announced the signing of center Robert Werdann.

Werdann, a Queens, N.Y., native, saw limited action with the Nets last season before having his rights renounced during the summer.

Knicks face challenging month

Larry Johnson calls it the hump month. Buck Williams says it will build character. Coach Jeff Van Gundy simply refers to January as the New York Knicks’ telltale stretch.

Regardless of whose wording you favor, this month will go a long way in telling the Knicks exactly what type of team they have.

The Knicks played just five games on the road in December. This month, 10 of their 16 are away from Madison Square Garden. The most highly anticipated is the Jan. 21 meeting with the Bulls at the United Center, but they also face stiff challenges at Houston Jan. 14 and from the Miami Heat Jan 26 at home. All told, they play nine games against teams with a winning record.

“These are character-building types of games,” Buck Williams said.

NBA standings, Thursday’s schedule, C7