TheNBA D-League All-Star Game was an annualexhibition basketball game held by theNBA Development League (D-League). The D-League was founded in 2001 as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) and later as the NBA Development League.[1] The league, now known as the NBA G League, serves as theNational Basketball Association's official minor league basketball organization.
The game was first held during the 2006–07 season as part of theNBA All-Star Weekend. The D-League All-Star Game was played on Saturday in the same host city as theNBA All-Star Game. However, the game was not held in the same arena as all the other All-Star Saturday events. Instead, it was held on the NBA Jam Session's practice court.[2]
In addition to the All-Star Game, the D-League also held the D-League Dream Factory Friday Night, an event modeled after the NBA All-Star Saturday Night. The event included popular competitions from the All-Star Saturday Night, such as theslam dunk contest and thethree-point shootout. The Dream Factory Friday Night was first held during the second D-League All-Star Game in 2008.[3]
In 2018, the All-Star Game was replaced by theNBA G League International Challenge, and the league's top players were instead named to its Midseason All-NBA G League Team.
In the D-League All-Star Game, twenty of the league's top players were selected to the All-Star roster by a combination of fan balloting on the official league website and voting by the head coaches of the teams. NBA players assigned to D-League teams were eligible to be selected. Players selected by coaches and fans must have been on an active roster of a D-League team during the All-Star Weekend. If a player was unable to participate because of injury, a recall by his NBA team, or a call-up by an NBA team, a replacement player was named. The starting lineups were picked by the head coaches.[4][5] The coaches for the All-Star game were the head coaches of the teams with the best winning percentage in the league through the three weeks before the All-Star game.[6] The first two games were played in four quarters of 12 minutes, similar to a regular D-League game. However, the next two games were played in two 20-minute halves, similar to acollege basketball game and theNBA All-Star Rookie Challenge.
The inaugural D-League All-Star Game was held inLas Vegas,Nevada during the2007 NBA All-Star Weekend. The players were divided into the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The East won by 14 points andPops Mensah-Bonsu was named as theAll-Star Game Most Valuable Player.[7] In the second and third All-Star Game, the players were divided into the Blue Team and the Red Team since there were three divisions in the D-League at the time. The Blue Team won the 2008 game, while the Red Team won in 2009.Jeremy Richardson won the 2008 All-Star Game MVP award and two players,Blake Ahearn andCourtney Sims, were jointly named as the MVP of the 2009 game.[8][9] In 2010, the players were divided into the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference after the league switched back into two conferences. The West won the game, led byBrian Butch who won the 2010 All-Star Game MVP award.[10]
In 2018, theNBA G League International Challenge replaced the traditional All-Star Game.[11] The International Challenge matched select American G League players against theMexico national basketball team. The U.S. team, chosen by aUSA Basketball committee, was also expected to compete in the2019 Americas qualifiers for theFIBA Basketball World Cup.[12] In lieu of the All-Star Game, the league instead named Midseason All-NBA G League Teams for each conference.[11]
^A On assignment from theDallas Mavericks
The D-League Dream Factory was a series of basketball skills competitions modeled after the NBA All-Star Saturday Night. The event took place during the NBA All-Star Weekend and was held on the NBA Jam Session's practice court. The league first hosted the event during the2008 NBA All-Star Weekend. The final event included theslam dunk contest, thethree-point shootout and the shooting stars competition, all of which were also annual competitions in the NBA All-Star Saturday Night at the time. TheH.O.R.S.E competition was discontinued after 2009 and the hot-shot competition was discontinued after 2008.
Theslam dunk contest showcased a player's skill in making a slam dunk. The contest was contested by four players. In the first round, each contestant performed two dunks. Two contestants with the highest score from those dunks advanced to the final round, where they had to perform two more dunks each to determine the dunk champion.[13]
In the three-point shootout, four contestants attempted to make as manythree-point field goals as possible from five shooting stations behind thethree-point arc in one minute. Players began shooting from one corner of the court, and moved from station to station along the three-point arc until they reached the other corner. Each of the first four stations had four standard balls, worth one point each, and one specially-colored "money ball", worth two points. The fifth shooting station consisted of five two-point money balls. Two contestants with the highest score advanced to the final round, where they re-attempted the three-point shots again from the five shooting stations.[13]
The Shooting Stars Competition was competed by four teams of three players each. In this competition, each team needed to make six shots from six shooting locations of increasing difficulties. Each team selected a specific player rotation to follow throughout the competition. Each shot must have been made before the next player began shooting in succession. The teams had two minutes to complete the course and the team who made all six shots with the fastest time wins the competition.[15]
The objective of theH.O.R.S.E competition was to accrue as few of the five letters as possible. A player was given a letter every time they failed to duplicate the shot of another player. Each player was given 24 seconds to make or duplicate the shot (dunking was prohibited). Each player who failed to duplicate five shots was eliminated from the competition. The competition was contested by four players. The competition was discontinued after the 2009 event.[13]
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
 2008 | Lance Allred,Idaho Stampede |
| 2009 | Will Conroy,Albuquerque Thunderbirds |
In the Hot-Shot competition, four teams of a D-League player and a D-League fan had to score as many points as possible from the four shooting spots in one minute. The fan was allowed to attempt the one-pointlayup, while the player was allowed to attempt from any shooting spots, a one-point layup, a two-pointfree throw, athree-point shot from behind the arc, and a five-pointhalf court shot. Two teams competed simultaneously at each end of the court and the winners advanced to the final round. The fan from the winning team had an opportunity to be a judge in the Slam Dunk Competition.[16] The event was discontinued after the inaugural event in 2008.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Carlos Powell,Dakota Wizards |
In the2022–23 season, the G League introduced the Next Up Game, consisting of 24 players who were voted in by fans.Iowa Wolves forwardLuka Garza andNBA G League Ignite guardScoot Henderson were voted in as the captains, with each of the players selecting 12-man rosters consisting of themselves and eleven others during a draft.Salt Lake City Stars head coachScott Morrison was chosen as the coach of Team Scoot, andOntario Clippers head coachPaul Hewitt was chosen as the coach of Team Luka.[17]
