Fantasizing about what it would be like to book an NBA All-Star Weekend

Discover what the historic NBA All-Star Weekend will be like.

In honor of last weekend’s NBA All-Star Weekend, I started thinking about what All-Star Weekends would look like historically. With that in mind, I decided to compile a list of all-time All-Star Games, all-time dunk contests, all-time three-point shooting contests, and all-time skills contests.

This isn’t just a ranking of the “top 24 players of all time,” it also takes into account entertainment level, fan count, and more. I also tried to find a good mix between eras in NBA history. It also removes the assumption that every player is at some level in their prime when this happens (or at least was in their prime when they were in their respective conferences). It also does impact career achievements and legacy.

We’ll start with the All-Star Game, using the NBA’s current format of 12 players per league (sidebar needs to be expanded). I also try to use which conference players do more or play better to help those who split their time between the two. It’s also worth noting that I’ve listed the bench in positional order, not necessarily in the order of my ranking of them or the order of their playing time.

G——Oscar Robertson
G——Michael Jordan
F——Larry Bird
F——LeBron James
C——Will Chamberlain

Oscar Robertson, aka “Big O,” was a triple-double player before triple-doubles were cool. He spent his entire career between the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks, but the Royals switched from the West to the East during his tenure, so technically his entire career didn’t take place in the East. However, he did spend the final 12 seasons of his career in the East, averaging 24.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game. However, his first eight seasons in the East were his best, during which he averaged 28.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists while shooting 49.2% from the field. He also won the MVP award in the 1963/64 season and won the 1971 NBA championship. I had 114 triple-doubles in the East.

There’s not much you can say about MJ. He was the greatest player of the 1990s and dominated the NBA. He was a two-time three-peat (1990-1993 and 1996-1998) and won 5 MVPs (another 5 top-5 finishes). With the Bulls (13 seasons), Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50.5% from the field. Although he ended his career with the Wizards in a disappointing and rather unceremonious two seasons, his career scoring averages were still 30.1/6.2/5.3 while shooting 49.7% from the field.

Bird was the leader of the NBA’s most competitive team (the Celtics versus the Lakers in the 1980s) and one of the most intriguing players in NBA history. He spent his entire 13-season career in Boston, where he won three NBA championships and three MVPs. His career averages are 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 points while shooting 49.6% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range. Bird finished in the top five in MVP voting in each of his first nine NBA seasons.

Almost everything I said about MJ also applies to LeBron. He’s another one of those “GOATs” that most people talk about. LeBron dominated the Eastern Conference in the 2010s, winning 4 MVPs (another 9 top-5 finishes), winning 4 NBA championships, and reaching the Finals eight straight years. He spent the first 15 years of his career in the East (playing for the Cavaliers and Heat respectively), averaging 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.4% from the field. James is now the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Wilt is one of the most difficult players to place between East and West. He split his career by playing 6.5 years in the East and 7.5 years in the West. However, he won all four MVPs in the East, so that’s where I would put him in the East. In 6.5 seasons in the East, he averaged 35.6 points and 26.1 rebounds while shooting 53% from the field. He also won four MVPs and finished second and fourth in two other full seasons in the East. Wilt is the NBA’s all-time rebounding leader.