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Share on FacebookWhat it's like to be selected for the NBA All-Star Game:
NBA great Dominique Wilkins, a nine-time All-Star with Atlanta
It was a thrill. You had Moses Malone (Philadelphia), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lakers), Magic Johnson (Lakers) and Dr. J (Julius Erving, Philadelphia). Growing up, everybody wanted to be Dr. J. Over a period of time, when we finally had the opportunity to meet, we became very, very close friends. I told him the story of how I patterned my game after him. To make the All-Star team with this kind of group, it was unbelievable.
 Dominique Wilkins was a nine-time All-Star and two-time Slam Dunk champion. (NBAE Photos) |
Being named an All-Star was unbelievable. When I heard it, it was like a dream come true. It's one of the goals of every NBA player to be considered one of the best; to make the All-Star squad signifies that. The first time I was chosen showed I had made that first step to becoming a great player and being acknowledged for it.
The most memorable All-Star weekend was in 1985 when we had all the players donate their money to the famine relief fund for the people in Ethiopia. There were a lot of reports of this, similar to the coverage of the war now. I felt this was an opportunity we, as players, could do some real good. The money donated was matched by the NBA. We were able to give close to $750,000.
NBA great Jeff Malone, twice an All-Star with Washington
When I first got picked, I was like a little kid; it was just my third year in the league. To be sitting in the locker rooms with those guys was very exciting for me. I was looking around at Robert Parish (Boston), Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks (Philadelphia), Sidney Moncrief (Milwaukee), it was great. To be considered one of the top players in a league that's so talented; it's a privilege and an honour to be selected at that time. It's one of the highlights of my career.
What it's like to be named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA All-Star Game:
NBA great Bob Lanier, an eight-time All-Star with Detroit and Milwaukee, and MVP of the 1974 NBA All-Star Game
It gives you a special feeling to be out on the floor with such illustrious players and to be chosen, for that moment, the best of the best. It depends on how well your teammates play with you. It's usually a guard-oriented game because they have the ball for the most part. As a big man, you have to depend on your guards to get you the ball. You have to get the ball off the glass and play super defence to make yourself look good on the other end. I played in an era where there were awesome players such as Oscar Robertson (Milwaukee), Jerry West (LA Lakers), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee, LA Lakers) and Wilt Chamberlain (LA Lakers), just to name a few.
To guard Wilt Chamberlain was difficult to say the least. When I first came in and got a chance to play with him, he didn't even speak to me. He had been my hero; I had watched this guy for a long time. I went up to shake his hand, I was so nervous, and he didn't speak to me for my whole rookie year. Two years later, I made the All-Star team and that was the first time he came to me. Wilt said, "Big fella, welcome to the NBA." I had paid my dues.
NBA great Nate "Tiny" Archibald, a six-time All-Star with Kansas City/Omaha, Kansas City and Boston, and MVP of the 1981 NBA All-Star Game
You represent your team first and you represent yourself. It was a great honour.
I don't know how I won the MVP in 1981. When I look at a lot of the All-Star Games, I didn't score a lot of points and I didn't distribute a lot of assists but people say I changed the course of the game. I just had a good time. I felt as a basketball player you make sacrifices. I would do anything to win.
What it's like to win the Slam Dunk contest:
 Michael Jordan is a two-time Slam Dunk champion, winning the title in 1987 and 1988. (A. Bernstein/NBAE Photos) |
... We were taking it to a whole new level, especially with Dominique Wilkins and myself, in a one-on-one confrontation, quite often in the dunking contest. It was a great pride, a great thrill just to compete, and yet, we were expanding the game and creativity with things that we were doing in the dunking contests. So when fans came to All-Star weekend, there was no telling what you would see.
That's what creativity is all about. It was fun with us. We didn't know what we were going to do. We drew so much from each other and motivated each other to a point where we were past the extreme of what we thought that we could do. And we were making up stuff as we went along, which is what creativity is all about. That was a part of the fun for the whole weekend.
My favourite dunk was during the Slam Dunk contest before the 1987 All-Star Game in Seattle. I drove the baseline, rocked my body in midair and turned sideways to tomahawk a dunk – my tongue was almost touching the rim. At the time, I didn't know I could get as high as I did. I could have kissed the rim. That's the highest I've ever been.
NBA great Dominique Wilkins, who won the Slam Dunk competition in 1985 and 1990
My favourite slam dunk contests were between Jordan and I. I beat him the first time (1985), the second one I lost (1988). Chicago is a tough place to play, especially back in those days; it's a great basketball city.
No one expected Spud Webb (Wilkins' 5-7 Hawks teammate) to win the Slam Dunk contest in 1986. They didn't expect him to do anything that he did. To his credit, he did one heck of a job.
Former Hawks guard Spud Webb, the shortest-ever Slam Dunk winner
Those were all dunks I'd been messin' with the summer before at Highland Hills (a recreation centre where Webb once dunked when only 4-11). I honestly didn't know which one I'd do until I walked out on the floor. The first time, I decided to dunk backward, just to get the crowd's attention. You can say I had an advantage with the crowd, but remember, 'Nique (Dominique Wilkins) was a lot more well-known than I was. He had some advantage, too.
'Nique had given me good advice. He told me not to be nervous, to come out with one of my best dunks first, and that once I got that one out of the way, the rest would be easy. That was exactly right.
Raptors guard Vince Carter, who won the Slam Dunk in 2000
I had no idea what to expect. People can tell you about it and you think you understand, but until you get there and experience it, you really don’t know what it’s going to be like. You can talk about it all you want, envision it, but until you actually sit there and experience it, I’m telling you – it’s a treat.
What it's like to win the Shootout:
NBA great Larry Bird, formerly of the Celtics, who won the first three Shootout events (Bird also made the first three-point shot in All-Star Game history)
My Celtics teammates told me I couldn't win and that got me excited about going. I didn't really know I could win it, but I was talking a lot. I was pretty confident in my shot. And when you're just standing still, with no defence, and shooting, well ... I always thought I was one of the best in the world at that. And if you put a little money on it, I was even better.
Every year, everybody was gunning to beat me and I knew it. Everybody was there to see me get beat and I liked that. But to me, it wasn't that difficult. If I got on the roll, I felt like I could hit 15 or 16 in a row.
Tim Legler, former Washington guard, on winning the 1996 Shootout
Three minutes of shooting is basically what it amounted to and it happened at the right time, the right place on national TV and it really put my name and a stamp on something that will be there forever.
The thing I remember most was that I obliterated the field. I won it by such a large margin. Nobody had ever had three 20-point rounds in the same contest.
What it's like to play in the Rookie Challenge:
Winnipeg, MB native and Sixers centre Todd MacCulloch, who participated in the 2000 Rookie Challenge
I was honoured to be a part of that. It's probably the only chance I'll have at participating in an All-Star event in this league and I was glad to be recognized as one of the top rookies. The event is all about fun – fun for the players, fun for the fans – it's a different sort of atmosphere. We had Bill Russell as our coach and I enjoyed hanging out with the other rookies (including Elton Brand, then of Chicago, and Houston's Steve Francis). It was rewarding to win the game, beating a group of pretty good sophomores (including Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Boston's Paul Pierce). It was something special, considering I was picked in the second round. It was a pretty big turnaround to make the rookie game.
LA Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who scored 31 points in the 1997 Rookie Challenge
I knew what I could do. (Before the game) I told (then-Lakers teammate) Sean Rooks, I told (then-Lakers teammate) Travis Knight, "I'm going at them." I told them point-blank. The other rookies were (logging a lot of regular season playing time). I wanted to come out and show everyone that even though I wasn't playing much, don't forget about me.
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