The 1996

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

was the 46th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1996. The event was held at the Alamodome in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and was a part of the 50th season of the NBA. The game was televised nationally by NBC in the United States and by CTV in Canada. There were 36,037 people in attendance.

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

put on a show for the fans in his first game back from retirement and ended up receiving the game's Most Valuable Player award.

Ballots

Phil Jackson from the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

coached the Eastern Conference and

George Karl George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, he became an assistant with the team before being appointed as a head coach ...

from the Seattle SuperSonics coached the Western Conference. The rosters for the All-Star game were chosen via a fan ballot. The fans would vote for every position, as well as the coaches, and the players that received the most votes would be placed on a team. If a player were unable to participate due to an injury, then the commissioner would select another player as a replacement. Grant Hill led the all-star voting with 1,358,004 votes with

being right behind him with 1,341,422 votes. The rest of the Eastern conference starters were Penny Hardaway, Scottie Pippen and

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

. The reserves included Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, Vin Baker and Terrell Brandon. For the West, the person that led the all-star voting was Charles Barkley with 1,268,195 votes. Clyde Drexler, after seven appearances with

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, appeared in the game for the first time as a Houston Rocket. The rest of the Western starters were

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regar ...

, Shawn Kemp, and

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. The reserves included David Robinson, Gary Payton, Sean Elliott, and Karl Malone.

All-Star Game

Box Score

This was the first All-Star game that Michael Jordan played in after returning from his first retirement. He managed 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, was 8–11 from the field, and didn't commit any turnovers.

scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds, leading the East in both categories. For the West,

lead the team with 10 assists in his first

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

appearance. The scoring leaders for the West were David Robinson and Gary Payton, both contributing 18 points. The East won the game by a score of 129–118. There was audible dissatisfaction among the crowd when it was revealed that Jordan would be the game's MVP. Some of them felt that O'Neal deserved the award. However, Jordan played six fewer minutes and had a higher efficiency rating.

Roster

References

{{NBA on ESPN Radio Events in San Antonio NBA All-Star Game

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Basketball in San Antonio Sports competitions in Texas