NBA All-Star Game facts for kids
Quick facts for kids NBA All-Star Game |
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2007 NBA All Star Game in Las Vegas
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| Frequency | Annual |
| Inaugurated | 1951 (Boston) |
| Previous event | 2025 (San Francisco, California) |
| Next event | 2026 (Inglewood, California) |
| Participants | Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars |
| Organized by | National Basketball Association |
 2025 NBA All-Star Game |
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The NBA All-Star Game is a super fun basketball game held every February. It brings together 24 of the best players from the National Basketball Association (NBA). Think of it as a big party where the top stars show off their amazing skills!
This special game is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. This weekend is packed with exciting activities from Friday to Sunday. The very first All-Star Game was played in Boston on March 2, 1951.
Players are chosen in a cool way. Fans, players, and even sports reporters vote for the starting players. The team coaches then pick seven more players to be reserves. This makes a team of 12 amazing players for each side. If a player gets hurt, the NBA commissioner picks someone else to take their spot.
For many years, the game was a showdown between the best players from the NBA's Eastern Conference and Western Conference. From 2018 to 2023, the game changed. The two players with the most votes became team captains. They then picked their teams from all the other chosen players, no matter which conference they were from. These teams also played to win money for charities they cared about. This made the games even more exciting!
The coach of the team with the best record in each conference usually gets to coach in the All-Star Game. But there's a rule: a coach can't lead a team two years in a row. This rule is sometimes called the "Riley Rule." It was made because a coach named Pat Riley was so successful that he coached the Western Conference team eight times in nine years! If a coach can't go, the coach of the team with the next best record steps in.
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History of the All-Star Game
The idea for the All-Star Game came from a meeting between NBA President Maurice Podoloff, NBA public relations director Haskell Cohen, and Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown. At that time, there was a problem in college basketball that made people lose interest.
To get fans excited about basketball again, Haskell Cohen suggested having a special game with the league's best players. It was like the All-Star Game in Major League Baseball. Many people weren't sure about the idea, but Walter A. Brown believed it would be a hit. He even offered to pay for everything if it didn't work out.
The first All-Star Game was a big success! It was held in Boston on March 2, 1951. The Eastern All-Stars beat the Western All-Stars 111–94. Ed Macauley from the Boston Celtics was named the first Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the game. Over 10,000 people came to watch, which was much more than the usual game attendance back then.
In 2010, the NBA All-Star Game set a record for the most people ever at a basketball game! A huge crowd of 108,713 fans watched the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The 2017 All-Star Weekend was supposed to be in Charlotte, North Carolina. But because of a new law in North Carolina that many people thought was unfair, the NBA decided to move the game. It was moved to New Orleans instead. Later, after some changes to the law, Charlotte was chosen to host the 2019 All-Star Weekend.
In 2017, the NBA changed how teams were picked for the game. Instead of just East vs. West, the top vote-getters became captains. They then drafted players for their teams, picking from all the other chosen stars.
In 2023, Candace Parker made history. She became the first woman to be a TV commentator for an NBA All-Star Game.
For the 2024 All-Star Game, the NBA brought back the old East vs. West format. They also removed a special rule for the fourth quarter called the "Elam Ending." This rule was added in 2020 to honor Kobe Bryant. However, the game still kept the charity aspect, with teams winning money for their chosen charities each quarter.
The 2025 All-Star Game had a brand new format! It was a mini-tournament with four teams of eight players. Three teams were made of NBA All-Stars, and the fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge. This challenge features new and second-year NBA players, plus players from the NBA G League. Each team was named after famous basketball TV analysts. The coaches for the tournament came from the teams with the best records. Three games were played, and the first team to reach 40 points won each game.
How Players Are Chosen
The starting five players for each team are chosen by fans, players, and the media. Fans' votes count for 50%, while players' and media votes each count for 25%. Before 2013, fans picked two forwards and one center. Now, they pick three "frontcourt" players (forwards or centers) and two "guards." The NBA even started offering ballots in different languages for fans to vote!
NBA coaches pick the reserve players for their own conference. But they can't vote for players from their own team! Each coach picks two guards, three frontcourt players, and two "wild card" players (who can be any position). If a player can't play because of an injury, the NBA commissioner chooses a replacement.
Sometimes, a team has many All-Stars! The record is four players from one team being chosen for the All-Star Game. This has happened nine times. The most recent time was in 2018, when four players from the Golden State Warriors were All-Stars.
The Game Itself
The All-Star Game follows most normal NBA rules, but it's a bit different. Since fans help pick the starters, players might play in positions they don't usually play. For example, in the 2007 game, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady both usually played shooting guard. But Kobe started as a point guard for the All-Star Game.
The game is usually full of exciting plays like slam dunks and alley oops. Players often focus more on showing off their skills than on tough defense. Because of this, the final scores are usually much higher than a regular NBA game.
If the score is close in the fourth quarter, the game gets much more competitive! The fourth quarter used to have a special "Elam Ending" rule from 2020 to 2023. In this rule, the game clock was turned off, and a target score was set. The first team to reach that target score won. For example, in 2020, they added 24 points (to honor Kobe Bryant) to the leading team's score after three quarters. The first team to reach that new target won.
Before the game, there's a big show with cool lights, music, DJs, and fireworks. Special uniforms are designed for the game each year. In the past, players who had the same jersey number had to pick a different one. But since 1997, players can keep their usual team numbers. A famous singer usually performs the national anthems before the game starts.
Halftime is also longer than a normal NBA game because popular music artists perform. The first big halftime show was in 2000, with many famous singers performing.
All-Star Game Records
You can find a full list of records for the NBA All-Star Game on the List of NBA All-Star Game records page.
All-Star Game Results
Here's a look at the past All-Star Games, where they were played, and who won the MVP award. As of the 2024 All-Star Game, the Eastern Conference has won more games, with 38 wins compared to the Western Conference's 29 wins.
| Western Conference (29 wins) | Eastern Conference (38 wins) |
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Note: Arena names are listed as they were at the time of the game.
- Notes
- * – a city that did not have an NBA team playing there during that year.
- ** – a game played at the "third" Madison Square Garden in New York City.
- *** – a game played at the "fourth" Madison Square Garden in New York City.
- † – an NBA All-Star Game held in a stadium usually used for NFL or MLB games.
- § – an arena whose name has changed since it hosted the game, and it has hosted another All-Star Game under its new name.
- Cities like Portland, Sacramento, Memphis, and Oklahoma City have NBA teams but have not yet hosted an All-Star Game.
- The Clippers team will host an All-Star Game by themselves for the first time in 2026. They had previously co-hosted games with the Lakers because they shared an arena.
- Some newer arenas that have not yet hosted the All-Star Game include Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, TD Garden in Boston, and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
- # – Arlington, Texas does not have its own NBA team, but it is part of the larger Dallas-Fort Worth area, which has the Dallas Mavericks.
- ‡ – the first game played with the "Elam scoring format." In this format, the fourth quarter ended when a team reached a target score, not when time ran out. The target score was set by adding 24 points (in honor of Kobe Bryant) to the leading team's score after three quarters.
Other All-Star Events
The All-Star Game is the biggest part of All-Star Weekend. But the weekend also has other fun events! These include exciting games and competitions with NBA players, famous people, former players, and players from the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and NBA G League.
See also
In Spanish: All-Star Game de la NBA para niños
- List of NBA All-Stars
- NBA–ABA All-Star Game
- ABA All-Star Game
- WNBA All-Star Game
