I’ve decided to celebrate the upcoming NBA All-Star weekend by looking back at my 10 favorite moments from previous All-Star weekends (in no particular order).
1. Chris “Birdman” Anderson misses the same dunk 15 times in 2005 slam dunk contest (this video greatly abbreviates how long he was actually up there trying to complete this dunk).
2. 1993 All-Star Game. Classic game, west won 135-132 in OT. Stockton and Malone shared MVP honors in front of the hometown crowd in Utah.
3. Isaiah “JR” Rider between the legs dunk at 1994 slam dunk contest. (Not as impressive now but at the time this was awesome).
4. 2007 All-Star Saturday night race between Charles Barkley and Dick Bevetta (Charles sealed the victory with a kiss).
5. Gerald Green “cupcake dunk” from 2008 slam dunk contest (happy to see Gerald back where he belongs this year)
6. Vince Carter’s performance at the 2000 slam dunk contest. (best dunk contest performance in history).
7. 2006 slam dunk contest. Nate Robinson brings in Spud Webb and steals a victory from Andre Iquodala. (Iguodala’s dunk from behind the backboard is one of greatest dunks of all time).
8. Kyrie Irving states his case to be the next superstar in the NBA going for 34 points on 8 of 8 from 3 point range to lead Team Chuck to victory in the 2012 Rising Stars game.
9. 2003 All-Star game. Western conference wins 155-145 in double OT in Michael Jordan’s final all-star game. (Game features Jordan seemingly hitting the game winner with 4.8 seconds to go. Kobe Bryant is fouled and hits 2 of 3 FT’s to send the game into overtime. Kevin Garnett wins the MVP after taking over in the second OT and finishing the game with 37 points. One of the greatest all-star games of all time, complete with a teary-eyed half-time speech from Jordan).
10. 1992 All-Star game. Magic comes out of retirement to win the MVP, and puts on a three-point shooting show to close out the game. Greatest collection of stars ever together in one all-star game.
