The NBA All-star Game is a cultural gathering of major proportions as diversity is the theme, but the aura of the event is African-American driven. The NBAs main attraction event will soon be coming to Indiana, one of the original Meccas of basketball as a religion.
The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Indiana Pacers will host the 2021 All-Star Game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team will hold a presser this afternoon for a “major event announcement.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Pacers owner Herb Simon, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, and Gov. Eric Holcomb will be in the building.
It would be the third All-Star Game held in Indiana, but first since 1985 at the Hoosier Dome. The first came in 1953 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
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With news today that Indianapolis will host the 2021 @NBA All-Star Game, we look back at the first time the game was played in Indiana: 1953 at Fort Wayne’s @acwmc. https://t.co/TGKG8SNIYO
Powered by a lit performance by 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson, who scored 24 points and grabbed 10 boards in a 140-129 Western Conference victory, the West finally ended its streak of five All-Star Game losses in a row the last time the event was held in the Hoosier state. Magic Johnson of the Lakers had 15 assists and 21 points. Ice Man George Gervin chipped in with 23 points. Larry Legend had 21 points and eight rebounds , Isiah Thomas had 22 points and Terry Cummings added 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench for The Eastern squad.
1985 NBA All-Star Game Best Plays
Got a request? Leave a comment here. http://ask.fm/gearmast3r The best highlights of the 1985 All-Star game.
More notable than the West signifying a shift of power in the NBA, that All-Star game was the debut of two future Hall of Famers, multiple NBA champions and icons of the game in Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon, the No. 1 pick of the 1984 Draft. Michael Jordan suited up to offer the basketball universe its first dose of MJ under the spotlight among the greats of the game. Jordan started for the East and had seven points (his lowest scoring output ever in an All-Star Game) on 2-for-9 shooting along with six rebounds. As folklore has it, Magic and Zeke froze Jordan out of that game intentionally as part of his initiation into the league and a message that they still controlled the star power in the NBA at the time.
Michael Jordan 1985 ASG (Magic & Isiah Freezes Out MJ)
LIKE MY PAGE ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/oldskoolbball FOLLOW MY TWITTER: https://twitter.com/oldskoolbball The West won the 1985 All-Star game in Indianapolis, but that’s just the side story. Legend has it that Magic and Isiah Thomas orchestrated a plan to freeze rookie Michael Jordan out of the game.
1985 All-Star Game rosters
Eastern Conference
Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)
Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers)
Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Dennis Johnson (Boston Celtics)
Robert Parish (Boston Celtics)
Sidney Moncrief (Milwaukee Bucks)
Terry Cummings (Milwaukee Bucks)
Bernard King (New York Knicks)
Michael Ray Richardson (New Jersey Nets)
Bill Laimbeer (Detroit Pistons)
Western Conference
Magic Johnson (L.A. Lakers)
George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)
Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz)
Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)
Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
Calvin Natt (Denver Nuggets)
Alex English (Denver Nuggets)
Larry Nance (Phoenix Suns)
Norm Nixon (L.A. Clippers)
The 2018 festivities will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles from Feb. 16-18, with Charlotte (Spectrum Center) and Chicago (United Center) hosting in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Other cities that placed a bid for either the 2020 or 2021 All-Star Game include Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Houston, and Orlando.
