50 Fun Facts About NBA All-Star Game

Which NFL venue hosted the 2010 NBA All-Star Game before a record basketball crowd of 108,713?

Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, smashed the old mark of 78,129, set when Michigan State played Kentucky at Ford Field in 2003.

Which Lakers guard won MVP of the 1992 NBA All-Star Game months after retiring with HIV?

Magic Johnson was voted in by fans despite having retired, then scored a game-high 25 points. After he hit a three-pointer, players ran on to embrace him and the last 14.5 seconds were never played.

Which pop singer's jazzy national anthem at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game was widely mocked online?

Fergie said the next day that she had wanted to try something special for the NBA, but that it missed the tone she intended.

Which city took over the 2017 NBA All-Star Game when it was pulled from Charlotte over a state law?

New Orleans stepped in for its second game in four seasons, having also hosted in 2014. Charlotte got the event back in 2019 after parts of North Carolina's 'bathroom bill' were repealed.

Which Motown star sang a soulful national anthem over a drum machine at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game?

Marvin Gaye's slow-grooving version, sung at the Forum in Inglewood, California, was one of his last televised appearances.

Which Houston rookie out-polled a three-time Finals MVP to start the 2003 NBA All-Star Game?

Yao Ming finished nearly a quarter of a million votes ahead of the Lakers center, in the first year the league offered ballots in Chinese as well as English and Spanish.

Which retiring legend was handed Vince Carter's starting spot at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game?

Michael Jordan had turned down the same offer from two other East starters before accepting Carter's at the last minute. It was his 14th and final All-Star selection.

What did Blake Griffin leap over for the dunk that won him the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

A car was his prop: he dunked over the hood of a Kia sedan in Los Angeles. He was a rookie that season, and an All-Star too.

Which Atlanta Hawks guard beat teammate Dominique Wilkins to win the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Spud Webb, the shortest man ever to enter, surprised even Wilkins, the defending champion, who had never seen him dunk. He closed with two perfect 50-point scores.

Which four-time winner had the NBA All-Star Game MVP award renamed in his honor in February 2020?

Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash three weeks before the 2020 game. Commissioner Adam Silver announced the change during that All-Star weekend in Chicago.

Which captain won MVP of the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, the first played with rosters picked by draft?

LeBron James took the award for the third time, 12 years after becoming its youngest winner at 21. His side edged the other captain's team 148–145 in Los Angeles.

Which Pelicans star's 52 points in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game broke a 55-year-old scoring record?

Anthony Davis added 10 rebounds and took home the MVP trophy. Wilt Chamberlain's old mark of 42 points had stood since 1962.

Which Golden State guard hit a record 16 three-pointers in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game?

Stephen Curry made 48 of his 50 points from long range and fell two short of the game's scoring record. He also set new marks for threes in a quarter and in a half.

Which Celtics forward set an NBA All-Star Game scoring record with 55 points in 2023?

Jayson Tatum beat the previous best of 52, set six years earlier, and took home the MVP trophy.

2021 NBA All-Star Game MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who made all 16 shots, was born in which country?

Greece is where he was born, in Athens, to parents who had emigrated from Nigeria. He scored 35 points without a miss and became the first non-American to win the game's MVP award.

Which Oklahoma City guard won back-to-back NBA All-Star Game MVP awards in 2015 and 2016?

Russell Westbrook scored 41 points in the 2015 game, one shy of a record that had stood since 1962, then repeated a year later in a 196–173 win.

Which 76ers guard rallied the East from 21 points down to win the 2001 NBA All-Star Game by one?

Allen Iverson scored 15 of his 25 points in the final nine minutes in Washington, D.C. The winning three-pointer came from Stephon Marbury with 28 seconds left.

Which Timberwolves forward was MVP of the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, decided in double overtime?

Kevin Garnett scored 37 points with nine rebounds and five steals as the West won 155–145 in Atlanta. No All-Star Game before it had needed a second extra period.

Which center shared the NBA All-Star Game MVP award with a co-winner in both 2000 and 2009?

Shaquille O'Neal split the 2000 award with Tim Duncan, won it outright in 2004, and was the first player to win it with more than one team.

Which Cavaliers guard, born in Melbourne, Australia, was MVP of the 2014 NBA All-Star Game?

Kyrie Irving had 31 points and 14 assists for the East. His American parents brought him back to the United States when he was two years old.

Which city staged the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951 after its team owner offered to cover losses?

Boston drew 10,094 fans to the Garden, nearly three times the league's average crowd that season, and the one-off experiment became an annual fixture.

Which city hosted the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, the first one played outside the United States?

Toronto staged it at the Air Canada Centre, home of the Raptors, after years of planning aimed at growing basketball in Canada.

Which city hosted the 2007 NBA All-Star Game despite having no NBA team of its own?

Las Vegas put the game in a university arena, which also made it the first All-Star Game played on a college campus.

Why was the 1999 NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for Philadelphia, never played?

A league lockout ran from July 1998 to January 1999 and cut the season to 50 games per team, leaving no room for the midseason showcase.

Which sport's All-Star Game did NBA publicist Haskell Cohen copy when proposing one in 1951?

Baseball's version was the model, and the league badly needed good news: college basketball had just been rocked by a point-shaving scandal.

Which Lakers coach's run of eight All-Star Games in nine seasons led to a rule against repeats?

Pat Riley kept earning the West job between 1982 and 1990 because his team kept posting the conference's best record. Under the 'Riley Rule', the next-best team's coach steps in instead.

Since 2017, which two groups have shared the vote with fans to pick NBA All-Star Game starters?

Players and media each hold a quarter of the vote, with fans keeping half. Before 2017 the starting fives were chosen by fan ballots alone.

Which Mavericks center fell 14,227 fan votes short of starting the 2016 NBA All-Star Game?

Zaza Pachulia, a Georgian big man in his first season in Dallas, nearly knocked a San Antonio forward out of the West's starting five.

The 2020 NBA All-Star Game's untimed fourth quarter, played to a target score, used which format?

Elam Ending takes its name from Nick Elam, a Ball State professor who wanted to stop late-game stalling and deliberate fouling. It was first used by The Basketball Tournament in 2017.

What did NBA players win by threatening to strike before the televised 1964 All-Star Game?

Recognition of their union came because the owners feared ABC would walk away if its first All-Star broadcast was scrapped. A historic blizzard was raging outside the arena.

Which Celtics forward won the first three NBA Three-Point Contests, from 1986 to 1988?

Larry Bird walked into the locker room before the first one and asked the other shooters who was going to finish second.

Which superhero's cape did Dwight Howard put on to win the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Superman is also Howard's nickname, and the costume helped him take 78 percent of a fan vote that decided the final for the first time.

Which 5-foot-9 Knicks guard became the first three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion in 2010?

Nate Robinson also won in 2006 and 2009. The first title came after a dunk-off in which he needed fourteen attempts to complete his final dunk.

Which guard, signed by the 76ers four days earlier, won the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Mac McClung had spent the season in the G League with the Blue Coats. Judges gave him a perfect 50 on 19 of 20 scorecards, and he won the next two contests as well.

Which Orlando forward lost the 2016 Slam Dunk Contest despite leaping over his team's mascot?

Aaron Gordon cleared the 6½-foot mascot while passing the ball under both legs, and still finished second to Zach LaVine. He was runner-up again in 2020.

Which rival league staged the first slam dunk contest at its 1976 All-Star Game in Denver?

ABA staff dreamed it up to draw a crowd to what proved the league's final All-Star Game. Julius Erving won by taking off from the free throw line, and the contest moved to the NBA after the merger.

Which WNBA star faced an NBA champion in a special three-point shootout at 2024 All-Star Weekend?

Sabrina Ionescu had broken the WNBA's own three-point contest record the summer before. It was the first NBA against WNBA shootout.

Which comedian was voted MVP of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game four years running from 2012?

Kevin Hart won on popularity as much as points: in 2013 he scored five while two teammates had 11 each, and fans still gave him the trophy.

Which teammates shared the 1993 NBA All-Star Game MVP award on their home court in Salt Lake City?

Stockton and Malone led the West to a 135–132 overtime win in front of Utah Jazz fans. No All-Star MVP award had been shared since 1959.

Which Lakers guard won the 1972 NBA All-Star Game with a last-second jumper on his home floor?

Jerry West broke a tie with a 20-foot jump shot at the Forum and was named MVP despite scoring only 13 points. He won his only championship as a player later that season.

Which German forward did the commissioner add to the 2019 NBA All-Star Game as a special pick?

Dirk Nowitzki, who spent his entire 21-year career in Dallas, joined Miami's Dwyane Wade as honorary additions chosen for their contributions to the sport.

Which point guard, MVP of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, later pitched its target-score finish?

Chris Paul took the idea to Adam Silver, and the untimed final quarter arrived at the 2020 game. Seven years earlier he had been the West's MVP in Houston.

Which Bucks guard won the Three-Point Contest and NBA All-Star Game MVP on the same 2024 weekend?

Damian Lillard was the first player to do that double. He scored 39 points as the East piled up a record total in Indianapolis.

Winners of which event for young players earned a place in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game tournament?

Rising Stars winners, managed by the analyst Candace Parker, filled the fourth slot beside three teams of All-Stars. They lost their semifinal 42–35 to a side of veterans.

Which St. Louis Hawks forward was the first player to win four NBA All-Star Game MVP awards?

Bob Pettit won in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1962, the last of them with a record 27 rebounds in front of his home crowd.

Which Hornets forward won 1997 NBA All-Star Game MVP after scoring 20 points in the third quarter?

Glen Rice played only 25 minutes, yet his 20-point quarter and 24-point half both set All-Star records. An East teammate's triple-double, the game's first ever, was not enough to beat him to the award.

Which Celtics center was named MVP of the first NBA All-Star Game two years after it was played?

Ed Macauley scored a game-high 20 points in 1951 and held George Mikan to 12. The MVP award was only created in 1953, when the league went back and honored the first two winners.

From 1997 to 2002, what did players wear in the NBA All-Star Game instead of special designs?

Their own team uniforms turned the court into a patchwork of colors for those games. Since 1997, All-Stars have also been allowed to keep their usual numbers.

Which Detroit Pistons forward in 1995 became the first rookie to lead the NBA All-Star fan voting?

Grant Hill collected 1,289,585 votes. No rookie in any of the four major professional sports leagues had ever topped an all-star fan ballot before.

Which league's All-Star Game, drafted by captains from 2011, was a model for the NBA's 2018 format?

NHL captains had been picking their own sides since 2011, and the NFL's Pro Bowl followed in 2014. The NBA's first such draft was held off camera.