The 2012 NBA All-Star Game was an

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basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

game that was played on February 26, 2012, during the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

's (NBA) 2011–12 season. It was the 61st edition of the

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 ...

, and was played at the

Amway Center Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) is an indoor arena located in the Downtown Orlando, downtown core of Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, home of the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 152–149.

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...

was named the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. The Orlando Magic were awarded the All-Star Game in an announcement by commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

on May 4, 2010. This was also the second time that Orlando has hosted the All-Star Game; the city had previously hosted the event in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

in the Orlando Arena, the Magic's previous home arena. This game also marked the first time an Eastern Conference city hosted an All-Star game since

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Despite the 2011 NBA lockout, which reduced the regular season to sixty-six games on a condensed schedule, the All-Star Game took place as scheduled. The All-Star Weekend began on Friday, February 24, 2012, with the Celebrity Game and the Rising Stars Challenge, a game featuring the league's best rookies and second-year players. On Saturday, the event continued with the All-Star Saturday Night, which featured the Shooting Stars Competition, Skills Challenge,

Three-Point Shootout The Three-Point Contest is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of All-Star weekend. The 2019 iteration of the contest involved ten participants. From its introduction in 1 ...

and

Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was conceived of and started by the American Basketball Associat ...

. The D-League All-Star Game and the D-League Dream Factory, which includes the Slam Dunk Contest, Three-Point Shootout and Shooting Stars Competition, also took place during the All-Star Weekend. Both events were held on Saturday before the NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

All-Star Game

Coaches

The coaches for the All-Star game are the head coaches who led the teams with the best winning percentages in their conference through the games of February 15, 2012. The head coaches from the previous year,

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...

and

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball executive and former coach who is the president for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the List of current NBA head co ...

were not eligible for selection. The coach for the Western Conference team was

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

head coach Scott Brooks. The Thunder had a 22–7 record on February 15, the best record in the Western Conference. The coach for the Eastern Conference team was

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 ...

head coach Tom Thibodeau. The Bulls had a 23–7 record on February 15, the best record in the Eastern Conference and in the league. This was the first All-Star Game selection for both Brooks and Thibodeau.

Players

The rosters for the All-Star Game were chosen in two ways. The starters were chosen via a fan ballot. Two guards, two forwards and one center who received the highest vote were named the All-Star starters. The reserves were chosen by votes among the NBA head coaches in their respective conferences. The coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. The reserves consist of two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. If a player is unable to participate due to injury, the commissioner will select a replacement. Dwight Howard of the

topped the ballots with 1,600,390 votes, which earned him a starting position as a center in the Eastern Conference team. Derrick Rose,

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. ( or , born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently the co-owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He is also currently the host of the American a ...

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

, and

Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Kyam Anthony ( ; born May 29, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Anthony played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a ten-time NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star and six-time All-NBA T ...

completed the Eastern Conference starting position. Howard, Rose, Wade and James were starters for the previous year's Eastern Conference team, while Anthony started for the Western Conference team. The Eastern Conference reserves includes three first-time selections,

Luol Deng Luol Ajou Deng (born 16 April 1985) is a South Sudanese–British former professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012. Born in South Sudan that was then part of Republ ...

Andre Iguodala Andre Tyler Iguodala ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The swingman was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and was named to the NBA All ...

, and Roy Hibbert.

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

guard Joe Johnson suffered an injury and was replaced by

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

guard Rajon Rondo. The

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

is represented by three players, Wade, James and

Chris Bosh Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball, Georgia Tech ...

, while the

and the Celtics are represented by two players each. The Western Conference's leading vote-getter was

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

, who earned his fourteenth consecutive All-Star Game selection with 1,555,479 votes.

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and "the Point God", is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded by some as one of the greatest p ...

, Blake Griffin, and Andrew Bynum completed the Western Conference starting positions. Bryant, Paul and Durant were starters for the previous year's Western Conference team. Griffin became an All-Star Game starter for the first time after he was selected as a reserve in last year's game. Bynum received 1,051,945 votes to earn his first All-Star Game selection and a starting position at center. Bryant/Bynum and Paul/Griffin became the first two pair of teammates who were voted to start for one conference since the 1997 game. The Western Conference reserves include two other first-time selections, LaMarcus Aldridge and

Marc Gasol Marc Gasol Sáez (, ; born 29 January 1985) is a Spanish former professional basketball player who is the president of Bàsquet Girona of the Liga ACB. The Center (basketball), center is a two-time All-NBA Team member and a three-time NBA All-St ...

. Both Los Angeles teams, the Lakers and the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

, are represented by two players each, all of them are starters. Durant, of the

, is the only Western Conference starter that does not play in either teams of Los Angeles. The Thunder is also represented by two players, Durant and

Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, Westbrook made his NBA debut in 2008 and became a star as a member o ...

Roster

Joe Johnson was unable to participate due to injury.
Rajon Rondo was named as Joe Johnson's replacement.

Game

The West led by as many as 21 points and held on to win the game, 152–149.

scored 34 of his game-high 36 points in the first three quarters and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

also scored 36. The West's lead was reduced to one point at 148–147 after a

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in ...

' steal and layup with 1:44 remaining. Leading 151–149, Blake Griffin secured the victory by intercepting James' pass. Griffin was fouled and made one of two

free throws In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

with 1.1 seconds left.

was guarding James on the play and chastised James for not attempting the potential game-winning shot. Bryant left the game earlier in the third quarter after he was bloodied from a hard foul to his face by

. He was diagnosed after the game with a

broken nose A nasal fracture, commonly referred to as a broken nose, is a fracture of one of the bones of the nose. Symptoms may include bleeding, swelling, bruising, and an inability to breathe through the nose. They may be complicated by other facial fra ...

and a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

. Bryant finished with 27 points and became the leading scorer in All-Star history (271), passing

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 ...

(262). Wade had 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, joining James and Jordan as the only players to record a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in the All-Star game. The West set an All-Star record with 88 first-half points, and the teams' 157 combined points at the half was also a record. The 301 combined points at the end of the game were two shy of the record set (in overtime) in the 1987 NBA All-Star Game. The East made 14 three-point field goals, another record.

All-Star Weekend

BBVA Rising Stars Challenge

The

BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Bilbao, with operative offices in Madrid. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, ...

Rising Stars Challenge featured the best first-year players ('

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

s') and the best second-year players ('Sophomores') going at each other. The game was divided into two twenty-minute halves, similar to

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

. For this edition of the Rising Stars Challenge, a pool of the participating players was selected by the league's assistant coaches. Then, the teams were drafted by former NBA players and current TNT analysts

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 ...

and

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

, who serve as "General Managers" for their respective teams. Former NBA player and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith served as the "Honorary Commissioner" for the Rising Stars Challenge. Sophomore Jeremy Lin of the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and rookie

Norris Cole Norris Gene Cole II (born October 13, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Osos de Manatí of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). A 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall point guard, he is a two-time NBA champion, winning back-to-b ...

of the

were two last-minute additions to the player pool. Sophomore Derrick Favors of the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

was selected as an injury replacement for

Tiago Splitter Tiago Splitter Beims (born January 1, 1985) is a Brazilian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time All-EuroLeague Team se ...

. Lin played only nine minutes in the game, at his request, due to exhaustion from his rise to stardom that month. Tiago Splitter was unable to participate due to injury.
Derrick Favors was named Tiago Splitter's replacement.
Kawhi Leonard did not play due to injury. Kyrie Irving, who scored 34 points on 8/8 three-point shooting, won the MVP award of the Rising Stars Challenge.

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest

Iman Shumpert was unable to participate due to injury.
Jeremy Evans was named Iman Shumpert's replacement.

Foot Locker Three-Point Contest

Joe Johnson was unable to participate due to injury.
Kevin Durant was named as Joe Johnson's replacement.

Taco Bell Skills Challenge

Stephen Curry was unable to participate due to injury.
Rajon Rondo was named as Curry's replacement.

Haier Shooting Stars Competition

Joe Johnson was unable to participate due to injury.
Jerry Stackhouse was named as Joe Johnson's replacement.

References

External links

2012 All-Star Game
at NBA.com {{NBA on ESPN Radio NBA All-Star Game

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 ...

2010s in Orlando, Florida Basketball competitions in Orlando, Florida ABS-CBN television specials