The NBA All-Star Game

How It All Began: The idea of an NBA All-Star Game has been around almost as long as the league itself, which began in 1946. A short five years later, in 1951, NBA publicist Haskell Cohen and Boston Celtics owner, Walter Brown, summoned the top 10 stars from the Eastern and Western Divisions to the Boston Garden for the first All-Star Game – and 10,094 fans followed. The East won, 111-94, and Boston’s own Ed Macauley scored 20 points to become the game’s first MVP.

More Than A Game: A lot has changed since 1951. The All-Star Game has become All-Star Weekend, with popular contests like the Three-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest – though no one has invited the Pistons. The Pistons have never had a participant in the Three-Point Shootout, though current Pistons assistant coach Terry Porter was a two-time runner-up in 1991 and 1993. The Pistons have had one participant in the Slam Dunk contest, Allan Houston in 1994. Houston, who failed to get out of the first round, probably should have been in the three-point shootout instead (.402 career 3FG%).

Rock The Vote: The NBA All-Star Game honors the league’s best players, but determines the starters through fan balloting, so it helps to be popular, too. Despite barely playing this year, Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was the fan’s choice to start the game and made his 14th All-Star team. O’Neal’s 14 All-Star selections ties him with Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Jerry West for No. 2 on the all-time list. He still has a while before he catches another former Lakers center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was named to a record 19 All-Star Games and played in 18 of them.

The ballots used to involve scratching a circle next to the player’s name like it was a lottery ticket. The Internet has made the process paperless and much more accessible for NBA fans around the world, with amazing results. In 2005, Houston Rockets center Yao Ming received millions of votes from his homeland of China and set the all-time single-season record for votes when 2,558,276 were cast in his favor, making him the starting center for the West All-Stars.

And while NBA fans have for a long time had a say over who starts the All-Star Game, this year they got to pick the dancers, too, for the first-ever NBA All-Star Dance Team.

Viva Las Vegas: With the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, the city of Las Vegas is making its debut as the site or a major pro sporting event. Though home to many boxing, gold and stock car races, and college football’s aptly named Las Vegas Bowl, the NBA is the first major professional sports league in the U.S. to bring an event there.

The game will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center, home to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels. The 18,776-seat arena prepared for its All-Star run by hosting two exhibition games during the 2006-07 preseason.

Be Our Guests: The state of Michigan has hosted the NBA All-Star Game on two occasions, once at Olympia Stadium in 1959 and again at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1979. Though considered one of the NBA’s finest facilities since it opened in 1988, The Palace of Auburn Hills has never hosted the All-Star Game. Pistons fans will have to wait at least two years to see if that changes. New Orleans Arena, home to the Hornets, will be the All-Star site for 2008.