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| Date | February 11, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Arena | Alamodome | ||||||||||||||||||
| City | San Antonio | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Michael Jordan | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Emilio (American) Shania Twain (Canadian) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 36,037 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| NBA All-Star Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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The 1996NBA All-Star Game was the 46th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1996. The event was held at theAlamodome inSan Antonio and was a part of the 50th season of theNBA.[1] The game was televised nationally byNBC in the United States and by CTV in Canada. There were 36,037 people in attendance.Michael Jordan 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.
Phil Jackson from theChicago Bulls coached the Eastern Conference andGeorge Karl from theSeattle SuperSonics coached the Western Conference.[2] 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 withMichael Jordan being right behind him with 1,341,422 votes. The rest of the Eastern conference starters werePenny Hardaway,Scottie Pippen andShaquille O'Neal. The reserves includedPatrick Ewing,Reggie Miller,Vin Baker andTerrell Brandon. For the West, the person that led the all-star voting wasCharles Barkley with 1,268,195 votes.Clyde Drexler, after seven appearances withPortland Trail Blazers, appeared in the game for the first time as aHouston Rocket. The rest of the Western starters wereJason Kidd,Shawn Kemp, andHakeem Olajuwon. The reserves includedDavid Robinson,Gary Payton,Sean Elliott, andKarl Malone.
NBC |
February 11, 1996 6:30pm |
| Western Conference 118,Eastern Conference129 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 32–33, 26–28, 22–41, 38–27 | ||
| Pts:Gary Payton,David Robinson 18 each Rebs:David Robinson 11 Asts:Jason Kidd 10 | Pts:Shaquille O'Neal 25 Rebs:Shaquille O'Neal 10 Asts:Penny Hardaway 7 | |
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.[3]Shaquille O'Neal scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds, leading the East in both categories. For the West,Jason Kidd lead the team with 10 assists in his firstAll-Star Game appearance. The scoring leaders for the West wereDavid Robinson andGary 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.
