INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Jordan. Larry Bird. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Isiah Thomas. Magic Johnson.
These were some of the players from the last NBA All-Star Game held in Indiana, but none of them won the MVP that day.
On February 10, 1985, the best basketball players in the country gathered in Indianapolis for the 35th NBA All-Star Game at the Hoosier Dome (later renamed the RCA Dome). The Hoosier Dome had 43,146 spectators, the largest crowd ever to attend an NBA game at that time.
The 1985 game featured future Hall of Famers and NBA champions Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as first-time All-Stars.
Led by 7-foot-4 Houston Rockets center Ralph Sampson, the West ended a five-game losing streak with a 140-129 victory over the East. 24 points and 10 rebounds and was elected MVP.
The Pacers had no players participating in the Indianapolis game, but they did include two future Pacers head coaches: Bird (21 points, 8 rebounds) and Thomas (22 points).
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Saturday’s festivities, including a dunk contest, were held at Market Square Arena. The Atlanta Hawks’ Dominique Wilkins won the first of his two Slam Dunk Contest titles after a final-round showdown with Jordan.
During this time, the NBA also instituted a strict dress code for sneakers, and the league initially refused to allow Jordan to wear a color-coded version of the Air Jordan I.
According to NBA.com, Jordan wore banned sneakers and a non-team-issued warm-up uniform to the 1985 Slam Dunk Contest, but did not do so because it was not an NBA-sanctioned contest.
Photo credit: AP/David Zarubowski
On February 18, 2005, the original model of the shoe that Michael Jordan wore in an NBA game in 1985 was lined up in Niketown in Denver.
Prior to 1985, Indiana hosted three Basketball All-Star Games:
- 1953: The third NBA All-Star Game is held at the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum, currently home to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ NBA G League affiliate.
- 1968: The first ABA All-Star Game is held at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
- 1970: The third ABA All-Star Game is held at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis (now known as the Indiana Farmers Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds).