The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that the 2015 All-Star Balloting has officially begun Thursday, as fans will have the opportunity to vote for which they feel are this season's best players within the league.

The NBA in collaboration with Sprint tipped off the All-Star Balloting at 2:00 p.m. ET, as NBA-themed voting stations were put outside Madison Square Garden and the Barclay's Center in New York City during the first hour. NBA legends such as Earl Monroe and Gary Payton were spotted greeting fans and encouraging them to cast the first votes.

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The 2015 NBA All-Star Ballot will consist of every single current NBA player for the first time, and the players that receive the highest amount of fan-votes will be adding an All-Star achievement to their resume in addition to participating in the 2015 NBA All-Star game.

Like previous years when selecting the All-Star starters lineup, fans must choose two guards and three frontcourt players. But rather than choosing from a specific selection of the top players in the league, fans can now vote for any player they choose.

There are numerous ways fans are able to place votes for their favorite NBA players, and the limit is 10 players per ballot. 

Fans can vote once per day during the balloting period at NBA.com, where the site offers full ballots in 11 languages. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook also allow voting each day, where fans can simply type the full name of a player along with the hashtag #NBABallot. Additionally, fans can vote from any mobile device as well by texting the player's last name to 6-9-6-2-2 (MYNBA).

The All-Star voting will conclude on Monday, Jan 19, and the starting lineup to the 2015 All-Star Game will be announced on TNT on Jan. 22.  The 64^th NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 15 in New York City at Madison Square Garden. 

TagsNBA All-Star Weekend, 2015 NBA All-Star voting, New York City, Sprint, All-Star lineup