MY FIRST - NBA ALL-STAR GAME
The last time the NBA All-Star Weekend was held in Salt Lake City was in 1993. It was the first, and last, of many things. It was the first one after the international sensation of Dream Team. The first time without either Magic or Bird. First time Shaq took center stage. First time two players shared the ASG MVP (and it was cool that it was the two home town heroes who did it). And the first All-Star Game I saw. I still got it on VHS at my moms place. I think I can quote the great Magnus Dahlborn from start to finish, since I've seen it as many times a Panasonic tape could rewind without breaking. So, to me the 1993 will always be the best All-Star Game and let me tell you why.
1. It was competitive like an NBA Finals game. Well, almost. And this might be the biggest reason why I'm not a big fan of the ASG anymore. It's like watching a layup line for 2,5 hours. But back in the 90's it was the best against the best, and you had to bring your best game to prove it. I remember one scenario in the game where Barkley was posting up Pippen and threw some bows and made Pippen look at the refs like "you saw that, right?" but still went at him to prove he was a Top 3 defender in the league, and who else to go after than the front runner for MVP? This was also the fifth game that went into OT, and it took Pat Riley a timeout and a clutch mid range Patrick Ewing bucket to force it.
2. Michael Jordan's soles. As I started to learn more and more about the NBA, I already knew MJ was the best. He had his own shoes. But so did Barkley and Shaq. And Ewing, that I knew from Kriss Kross. But then I saw MJ rocking a blue colorway and I thought "did he really make one pair just for this game? Is he that rich?" little did I know how that works. But yeah, the Air Jordan 8 Aqua's is one of the most underrated shoes of all time. It took me 20+ years to get those, and I still haven't event tried them on. Maybe I'll do it on Sunday just because.
3. Last time Isiah played an All-Star Game, and he was a key player for the East for 12 consecutive years. From his Rookie year until '93 he started 10 of those 11 games and missed one in 1991 'cause of injury. And, in 1987 I never understood why he didn't start, as the East went with MJ as the only guard and Dr J, 'Nique and Bird as a three headed forward monster instead. I love Isiah and when he threw MJ a perfect lob in the first half, MJ had to put things aside and dap him up on the way back.
4. Larry Johnson. If you know me, you know LJ is my childhood hero. He's the reason I actually started to play basketball. He was coming off his Rookie season and was maybe the most exciting player in the league and his second season was by far his best. He was voted a starter and even if he didn't put up any crazy numbers, I still have to put this East squad as my favorite, just because LJ was starting.
5. Shaq. There was a lot of disagreement about Shaq being voted a starter infront of Ewing, with the Knicks leading the Eastern Conference. And since Ewing played heavy minutes down the stretch, I think it's accurate to say that Pat Riley didn't agree with the votings. But Shaq was still a beast, and I loved how he was only 20 years young and still went at Hakeem and The Admiral like it was his league. Little did I know, it was soon gonna be just that.
6. The jerseys are the best of all time. Easily. Back then it was red, white and blue but after 1994 they switched it up and had everything from purple to teal, the players regular team jerseys and even sleeved tees. Come on now, why change it at all. But that's just me.
As I hope this years game will be better than those no-defense games we've seen last decade or so, it'll take a lot to top the '93 in my book. But if someone chose to bring in LJ as a replacement for an injured player, we're on a good way.