2010 NBA All-Star Game

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2010 NBA All-Star Game drew 108,713 people to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on the 14th of February, 2010. That number was not just an NBA record. It was the largest attendance ever recorded for any basketball game anywhere in the world. The previous verified record was 78,129, set at Ford Field in Detroit on the 13th of December, 2003, in a college game between Kentucky and Michigan State. The Dallas crowd nearly doubled it.

  The stadium itself raised an immediate question. Cowboys Stadium was built for football, not basketball. The 2010 game was the first All-Star Game played in a football venue since the 1996 event at San Antonio's Alamodome. It was also the first time All-Star weekend events were split between two venues since 1989, with the Rookie Challenge and Saturday Night events held at American Airlines Center before the main game moved to Cowboys Stadium.

  What unfolded that weekend stretched well beyond the main event: a historic Rookie Challenge, a dunk contest that produced the first three-time winner, a Three-Point Shootout whose winner had famously struggled in the same competition years before, and a main game decided by two points in which the MVP played at a statistical level that is difficult to categorize. This is the story of that weekend.

• 2. A Record-Breaking Venue

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  NBA commissioner David Stern announced on the 30th of October, 2008, that Dallas would host the 2010 All-Star Game. The Dallas-Fort Worth area had previously hosted the event in 1986, making this its second time. But the scale of 2010 was categorically different from anything that came before.

  Cowboys Stadium's capacity allowed for an announced attendance of 108,713, which broke two records simultaneously. It surpassed the previous NBA All-Star attendance mark of 44,735, set at the Houston Astrodome for the 1989 game. It also broke the record for the single largest attendance for any indoor event, a mark that had been held by WrestleMania III in 1987.

  The only basketball game with a claimed larger attendance is the 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup final between AEK Athens and Slavia Prague at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, said to have drawn 120,000 people. But that figure was never verified at the time, which is why the Cowboys Stadium crowd stands as the confirmed record.

  The game also introduced a visual change that had never appeared in All-Star history: neither team wore a white uniform. The East wore blue with silver trim, the West wore red with gold trim. The Dallas Mavericks, serving as host franchise for the second time, played their weekday games at American Airlines Center but handed over their biggest moment to a football stadium across the city.

• 3. Coaches, Rosters, and Absences

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  George Karl coached the Western Conference team, his fourth selection as an All-Star coach after previous appearances in 1994, 1996, and 1998. He earned the role because his Denver Nuggets held the second-best winning percentage in the West at the January 31 cutoff, behind Phil Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson was ineligible because he had coached in the previous year's All-Star Game, a rule that blocks consecutive selections.

  Stan Van Gundy coached the Eastern Conference for the second time, his first selection having come in 2005. His Orlando Magic had the second-best record in the East at the cutoff, behind Mike Brown's Cleveland Cavaliers, who were similarly blocked by the consecutive-selection rule.

  LeBron James led all vote-getters with 2,549,693 ballots. Kobe Bryant led the West with 2,456,224. Allen Iverson, who had briefly retired before returning to the Philadelphia 76ers, earned his eleventh straight All-Star selection. Gerald Wallace became the first player to represent the Charlotte Bobcats in the game. Derrick Rose became the first All-Star from the Chicago Bulls since Michael Jordan.

  Four players ultimately did not participate. Bryant, Chris Paul, and Brandon Roy withdrew due to injury. Iverson withdrew for personal reasons. Their replacements included Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Chris Kaman, and David Lee, the last two making first-time selections. With Bryant out, Western coach Karl started Dirk Nowitzki, the home-market representative, in his place.

• 4. The Rookie Challenge Upset

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  Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings was named MVP of the Rookie Challenge after scoring 26 points with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. His Rookies team won 140-128, ending a seven-game win streak by the Sophomores and claiming the Rookie Challenge for the first time since 2002.

  The Rookie squad included five of the top ten picks from the 2009 NBA draft: Stephen Curry, Evans, Jonny Flynn, James Harden, and Brandon Jennings. The coaching staff featured Adrian Dantley from the Denver Nuggets as head coach, with Kevin Durant serving as an assistant. Durant was appearing in his third consecutive Rookie Challenge, having played as a rookie and then a sophomore in the two previous years.

  DeJuan Blair produced the game's most unusual statistical line: 22 points and 23 rebounds, which made him the first player to record a 20-20 game in Rookie Challenge history. On the other side, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder was extraordinary in defeat. He finished with a game-high 40 points, scoring 29 of them in the second half after the Rookies had built a 12-point lead at halftime. It was only the second time any player had reached 40 points in the game; Durant had scored 46 the previous year.

  At halftime of the Rookie Challenge, DeMar DeRozan and Eric Gordon competed in the inaugural NBA All-Star Dunk-In, a single-round competition to determine the fourth slot in Saturday's Slam Dunk Contest. DeRozan won 61% of the online fan vote and secured his place in the main event.

• 5. Saturday Night Competitions

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  Nate Robinson entered the 2010 Slam Dunk Contest as the defending champion. He left it as something no one had been before: a three-time winner. Robinson scored 89 points in the first round, advancing alongside DeMar DeRozan, who had scored 92 points including a single 50-point dunk. The final came down to fan voting, and Robinson won 51% of the vote after incorporating the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders into his final-round dunks. He then announced his retirement from future dunk contests. The judging panel included former champions Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb.

  Paul Pierce won the Three-Point Shootout with a score of 20 points in the final round. Pierce had participated in the event once before, in 2002, managing only 8 points. His 2010 victory made him the first Celtic to win the contest since Larry Bird won it three consecutive times in 1986, 1987, and 1988. Channing Frye of the Phoenix Suns was a notable first-round participant: the first center to enter the three-point shootout since Sam Perkins in 1997.

  Steve Nash won the Skills Challenge by completing the dribbling, passing, and shooting course in 29.9 seconds in the final round. That was faster than his own first-round time of 35.0 seconds. The victory made Nash the second two-time winner of the event, joining Dwyane Wade who had won back-to-back in 2006 and 2007. Nash's final opponent, Deron Williams, slowed to 37.9 seconds after posting 34.1 seconds in the first round.

  Kevin Durant defended his H-O-R-S-E title against Rajon Rondo and rookie Omri Casspi. After Casspi was eliminated for accumulating all five letters, time constraints converted the competition into a three-point shooting format. Durant made enough shots to eliminate Rondo, who missed two three-pointers. Team Texas won the Shooting Stars Competition in 34.3 seconds in the final, with Dirk Nowitzki converting the required half-court shot. Becky Hammon, who had won the competition as part of Team San Antonio in 2008, became the second two-time winner of the Shooting Stars event, after Bill Laimbeer.

• 6. Dwyane Wade's Defining Night

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  The main game on February 14 ended Eastern Conference 141, Western Conference 139 in a two-point finish. Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat was named the Most Valuable Player. He shot 75% from the field on his way to 28 points, and added 11 assists, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals.

  Wade's selection as MVP came on his sixth All-Star appearance. He had topped 2,327,550 fan votes as a starter. His performance across multiple statistical categories in a game where no defensive pressure is obligatory made his stat line stand apart from a roster that included LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and the eventual replacement starters Joe Johnson and Dirk Nowitzki.

  The East's five starters had all started together in the previous year's game as well: James, Wade, Garnett, Howard, and Iverson, though Iverson did not play and Johnson took his place in the lineup. The reserves for the East included four first-time selections: Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Gerald Wallace, and Al Horford. Among the West reserves, Kevin Durant, Zach Randolph, and Deron Williams were also first-timers. Williams had grown up and starred in high school basketball in the Dallas area, making his debut in his home region.