Ranking the NBA’s top-10 All-Star moments
USA TODAY Sports
NBA All-Star Weekend is about the moments. It’s a party for the fans, but it’s more so a celebration of the players. Some events, like Vince Carter’s 2000 dunk contest triumph or Magic’s return in 1992, become indelible.
This year’s dunk contest, featuring Aaron Gordon and DeAndre Jordan, undoubtedly has potential, and Klay Thompson is back to defend his three-point title. The game itself is stacked. Can New Orleans 2017 produce anything to crack the top-10 NBA All-Star moments?
10. Jason Williams, 2000 rookie-sophomore game. Williams, then in his second year in the league, tried an audacious elbow pass that was so smooth it didn’t matter that Raef LaFrentz got fouled and couldn’t finish the play.
9. Marvin Gaye, 1983 Star-Spangled Banner. Gaye’s soulful version at the 1983 All-Star Game in Los Angeles later became the music of a Team USA Nike commercial ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
8. Shaq and Kobe shared All-Star Game MVP honors, 2009. It had been nearly five years since they’d been teammates in Los Angeles, but Shaq and Kobe put their differences aside, at least for a night. O’Neal, then with the Suns, had 17 points and five rebounds in just 11 minutes, while Bryant led all scorers with 27.