NBA All-Star Game facts for kids

Quick facts for kids National Basketball Association All-Star Game
2007 NBA All Star Game in Las Vegas
Frequency	Annual
Inaugurated	1951 (Boston)
Previous event	2024 (Indianapolis)
Next event	2025 (San Francisco)
Participants	Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars
Organized by	National Basketball Association
2024 NBA All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star Game is a special basketball game held every February. It features 24 of the best players from the NBA. Since 2022, it happens on the third Sunday of February. It's the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend, which is a fun three-day event from Friday to Sunday. The very first All-Star Game was played in Boston on March 2, 1951.

The starting players for each team are chosen by fans, players, and media. Head coaches then pick seven more players as "reserves" from their own conference. This makes a 12-player team for each side. Coaches cannot vote for players on their own team. If a chosen player gets hurt, the NBA commissioner picks someone else to play.

For many years, the NBA All-Star Game was a match between the top players from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. From 2018 to 2023, the game changed. The two players with the most votes became team captains. They would then pick their teams from all the other chosen players, no matter which conference they were from. These teams also played for a charity they chose, which helped make the games more exciting.

The coach of the team with the best record in each conference usually leads their All-Star team. However, a coach cannot lead the All-Star team two years in a row. This rule is sometimes called the "Riley Rule." It was made because Pat Riley, a very successful coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, coached the Western Conference team eight times in nine years! If a coach can't lead, the coach of the team with the next best record gets to do it instead.

History of the All-Star Game

The idea for the All-Star Game came from a meeting with NBA President Maurice Podoloff, NBA public relations director Haskell Cohen, and Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown. At that time, basketball was facing a problem: a scandal where college players were cheating by "point-shaving."

To make people excited about the league again, Haskell Cohen suggested a special game with the league's best players. This was like the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Many people, including Podoloff, didn't think it would work. But Walter A. Brown was sure it would be a hit. He even offered to host the game and pay for any costs or losses.

The first All-Star Game happened at the Boston Garden 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 MVP. The game was a big success! Over 10,000 people came to watch, which was much more than the usual 3,500 fans per game that season.

In 2010, the NBA All-Star Game set a record for the most people at a basketball game. A massive 108,713 fans watched at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This broke the old record from 2003, when 78,129 people watched a college game at Ford Field.

The 2017 All-Star Weekend was first planned for Charlotte, North Carolina. But in 2016, North Carolina passed a law that many people thought was unfair to transgender people. Because of this, the NBA announced they would move the game if the law wasn't changed. Since no changes were made, the NBA moved the 2017 game to New Orleans. Later, in 2017, after parts of the law were changed, the NBA decided that Charlotte would host the 2019 All-Star Weekend.

On October 3, 2017, the NBA announced a new game format starting in 2018. Instead of East vs. West, the top vote-getters from each conference became team captains. They would then pick their teams from all the other players, no matter which conference they were from.

However, on October 25, 2023, the NBA brought back the East vs. West format for the 2024 All-Star Game. They also removed the special "Elam Ending" for the fourth quarter, which had been used since 2020 to honor Kobe Bryant. But the game still helps charities. The team that scores the most points in each quarter wins money for their chosen charity.

How All-Star Rosters Are Chosen

The five starting players for each conference include three "frontcourt" players (like forwards or centers) and two "guards." These players are chosen by a mix of fan votes (50%), player votes (25%), and media votes (25%). Before 2013, fans voted for two forwards and one center specifically. The NBA started offering All-Star ballots in English, Spanish, and Chinese in 2003 to make it easier for fans to vote.

NBA coaches vote for the reserve players for their own conference. But they cannot choose 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 play multiple positions, coaches are told to vote for them at the position that helps the All-Star team the most. If a player gets hurt and can't play, the NBA commissioner picks a replacement. If the replacement is for a fan-chosen starter, the All-Star Game coach decides who starts in their place.

Sometimes, many All-Star players come from the same team. The record is four players from one team, which has happened nine times. The first time was in 1962, when both the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers each had four All-Stars. The most recent time was the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 game.

How the Game Is Played

The All-Star Game follows most normal NBA rules, but with some fun differences. Since fans, players, and media pick the starters, players sometimes play in different positions than usual. 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 team. Players often try amazing slam dunks and alley oops, and there isn't as much defense played. This means the final scores are usually much higher than a regular NBA game.

If the score is close, the fourth quarter becomes more competitive. In 2020, the fourth quarter used a special "Elam Ending." In this ending, the game clock is turned off with four minutes left. A "target score" is set, and the first team to reach that score wins. In 2020, the NBA added 24 points to the leading team's score at the end of the third quarter. This was done to honor Kobe Bryant, who had passed away a month before. Team Giannis was leading Team LeBron 133–124, so the target score became 157 points. Team LeBron ended up winning the game!

Before the game, there are exciting player introductions with cool lights, music, DJs, and fireworks. Special uniforms are designed for the game each year. They are usually red for the Western Conference and blue for the Eastern Conference. From 1997 to 2002, players could wear their normal team uniforms. In the past, if two players had the same jersey number, one would have to pick a different one. For example, Patrick Ewing wore #3 instead of his usual #33 early in his career because Larry Bird also had #33. Since 1997, players can keep their own jersey numbers. A famous singer usually performs "O Canada" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the game starts.

Halftime is longer than a typical NBA game because popular music artists perform. The first big halftime show was in the 2000 game, with many artists performing.

All-Star Game Records

All-Star Game Results

Here is a list of past All-Star Games, where they were played, and who won the Game MVP award. The numbers in parentheses show how many times that place, city, or player has appeared. As of the 2024 All-Star Game, the Eastern Conference has won 38 times, and the Western Conference has won 29 times.

Note: Venue names are listed as they were at the time of the All-Star Game.

Other All-Star Events

The All-Star Game is the biggest event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. It happens on Sunday night. The All-Star Weekend also has other fun games and competitions. These include 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