1991 NBA All-Star Game

1991 NBA All-Star Game

1 2 3 4 Total West 23 35 34 22 114 East 22 45 27 22 116
Date	February 10, 1991
Arena	Charlotte Coliseum
City	Charlotte
MVP	Charles Barkley
National anthem	Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis
Attendance	23,530
Network	NBC TNT (All-Star Saturday)
Announcers	Bob Costas, Mike Fratello and Pat Riley Bob Neal, Doug Collins and Hubie Brown (All-Star Saturday)
NBA All-Star Game
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The 1991 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game between players selected from the National Basketball Association's Western Conference and the Eastern Conference that was played on February 10, 1991, at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, home of the Charlotte Hornets. This game was the 41st edition of the NBA All-Star Game and was played during the 1990–91 NBA season.

The All-Star Weekend began on Saturday, February 9, 1991, with the Stay In School Jam, Legends Classic, the Three-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest.

This was the first NBA All-Star Game broadcast by NBC after 17 years with CBS.

The East narrowly beat the West, 116–114. Kevin Johnson's potential game-winning three-pointer for the West was nullified by a basket interference call on Karl Malone. Charles Barkley was named as the game's Most Valuable Player after scoring 17 points and grabbing 22 rebounds.

The All-Star Game returned to Charlotte in 2019, though it was played at the Spectrum Center in Uptown and hosted by the second incarnation of the franchise, and broadcast on TNT (the All-Star Game has never been broadcast on ABC or ESPN during the networks' current contract with the league, which began during the 2002–03 season).

Coaches

Rick Adelman, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was named as coach of the Western All-Stars. Chris Ford, head coach of the Boston Celtics, was named as coach of the Eastern All-Stars. Both were determined by the best conference record at a pre-determined date mid-season before the All-Star Game, set in January.

The 1991 game was the first to implement the "Pat Riley Rule," which prohibits a coach from coaching an All-Star team in consecutive seasons. In such cases, the honor passes to the coach of the team with the next-best record in the same conference, with tiebreakers favoring the coach who has either never coached the game or hasn't done so less recently. The rule was established following its namesake's six consecutive appearances from 1985 to 1990, the second longest streak after Red Auerbach's eleven.

Rosters

Eastern Conference All-Stars Pos. Player Team Appearance Starters G Isiah ThomasDNP Detroit Pistons 10th G Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 7th F Larry BirdDNP Boston Celtics 11th F Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers 5th C Patrick Ewing New York Knicks 5th Reserves F Dominique Wilkins Atlanta Hawks 6th G Ricky Pierce Milwaukee Bucks 1st G Hersey Hawkins Philadelphia 76ers 1st F Kevin McHale Boston Celtics 7th C Brad Daugherty Cleveland Cavaliers 3rd G Alvin Robertson Milwaukee Bucks 4th C Robert Parish Boston Celtics 9th F Bernard KingST Washington Bullets 4th G Joe DumarsST Detroit Pistons 2nd Head coach: Chris Ford (Boston Celtics)

Western Conference All-Stars Pos. Player Team Appearance Starters G Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 11th G Kevin Johnson Phoenix Suns 2nd F Chris Mullin Golden State Warriors 3rd F Karl Malone Utah Jazz 4th C David Robinson San Antonio Spurs 2nd Reserves F James Worthy Los Angeles Lakers 6th G Clyde Drexler Portland Trail Blazers 5th C Kevin Duckworth Portland Trail Blazers 2nd F Tom Chambers Phoenix Suns 4th G Terry Porter Portland Trail Blazers 1st G Tim Hardaway Golden State Warriors 1st G John Stockton Utah Jazz 3rd Head coach: Rick Adelman (Portland Trail Blazers)

• ^DNPEven though they were selected, Isiah Thomas and Larry Bird couldn't play due to injuries. Hersey Hawkins was selected as Bird's replacement, and no replacement was named for Thomas, as his inability to play was already known at the time coaches voted for the reserves, and thus voted for 8 reserves rather than the usual 7, thus filling in his spot through voting in an extra reserve. ("Because a wrist injury will keep Detroit’s Isiah Thomas out of the All-Star Game, coaches picked eight reserves instead of the usual seven for the East team." Located at -"Worthy and 3 Blazers Join the All-Stars," L.A. Times Archives, Jan. 29, 1991 12 AM PT, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-29-sp-443-story.html)
• ^STEastern Conference head coach Chris Ford chose Joe Dumars and Bernard King to start in place of the injured Thomas and Bird.

All-Star Weekend

Legends Classic

The 8th edition of the Schick Legends Classic took place on February 9, 1991. It consisted of an exhibition match between retired players from the Eastern and Western Conference. The East Legends won 41–34.

Rosters

Eastern Conference Legends Pos. Player Age Last NBA season C Tommy Burleson 38 1980–81 (Atlanta Hawks) F/C Dave Cowens 42 1982–83 (Milwaukee Bucks) F/G Dave DeBusschere 50 1973–74 (New York Knicks) G Phil Ford 35 1984–85 (Houston Rockets) F Bobby Jones 39 1985–86 (Philadelphia 76ers) F/C Jerry Lucas 50 1973–74 (New York Knicks) F/G Jack Marin 46 1976–77 (Chicago Bulls) F/G Oscar Robertson 52 1973–74 (Milwaukee Bucks) F/G Charlie Scott 42 1979–80 (Denver Nuggets) F/G David Thompson 36 1983–84 (Seattle SuperSonics) Head coach: Frank McGuire

Western Conference Legends Pos. Player Age Last NBA season F Rick Barry 46 1979–80 (Houston Rockets) G Phil Chenier 40 1980–81 (Golden State Warriors) F/G George Gervin 38 1985–86 (Chicago Bulls) C Artis Gilmore 41 1987–88 (Boston Celtics) F/C Maurice Lucas 38 1987–88 (Portland Trail Blazers) G Calvin Murphy 42 1982–83 (Houston Rockets) F/G Sam Jones 57 1968–69 (Boston Celtics) C Clifford Ray 42 1980–81 (Golden State Warriors) F/C Dan Roundfield 37 1986–87 (Washington Bullets) F/G Jamaal Wilkes 37 1985–86 (Los Angeles Clippers) Head coach: Jack Ramsay

Slam Dunk Contest

The Gatorade Slam Dunk Contest had three of the previous year's contestants, with the notable absence of defending champion Dominique Wilkins. Dee Brown took home the trophy after defeating Shawn Kemp in the final, performing a dunk while covering his eyes with one arm. The scoring system consisted of the total of the two dunks, and in the final round the two best out of three dunks.

Contestants

Pos.	Player	Team	First Round	Semifinal	Final
1st dunk	2nd dunk	Total	1st dunk	2nd dunk	Total	1st dunk	2nd dunk	3rd dunk	Total
G	Dee Brown	Boston Celtics	48.2	44.2	92.4	49.6	48.4	98.0	48.1	46.4	49.6	97.7
F/C	Shawn Kemp	Seattle SuperSonics	47.6	48.2	95.8	48.3	47.3	95.6	44.3	48.0	45.7	93.7
G	Rex Chapman	Charlotte Hornets	45.5	49.7	95.2	49.0	46.0	94.0	Did not advance
G	Kenny Smith	Houston Rockets	48.5	42.3	90.8	46.6	41.3	87.9	Did not advance
F	Kenny Williams	Indiana Pacers	42.3	44.6	86.9	Did not advance
F/G	Blue Edwards	Utah Jazz	40.1	44.2	84.3	Did not advance
F/G	Otis Smith	Orlando Magic	41.2	41.8	83.0	Did not advance
G	Kendall Gill	Charlotte Hornets	40.1	40.9	81.0	Did not advance

Three-Point Shootout

The American Airlines–ITT Sheraton Three-Point Shootout saw Craig Hodges repeat as champion, by defeating Portland's Terry Porter in the final round. Players begin shooting from one corner of the court, and move from station to station along the three-point arc until they reach the other corner. Each station has four standard balls, worth one point each, plus one specially colored "money ball", worth two points.

Contestants

Pos.	Player	Team	First round	Semifinal	Final
G	Craig Hodges	Chicago Bulls	20	24	17
G	Terry Porter	Portland Trail Blazers	15TIE	14	12
F	Dennis Scott	Orlando Magic	16	12	Did not advance
F/G	Danny Ainge	Portland Trail Blazers	18	11	Did not advance
G	Tim Hardaway	Golden State Warriors	15TIE	Did not advance
G	Hersey Hawkins	Philadelphia 76ers	14	Did not advance
F	Glen Rice	Miami Heat	9	Did not advance
F/G	Clyde Drexler	Portland Trail Blazers	8	Did not advance

^TIE Terry Porter and Tim Hardaway broke the tie in a 30-second shooting round.