Defense is optional in the NBA All Star Game. We’ll let you be the judge of that. Frankly, we like our NBA old-school – Bird, Magic, Bad Boys, Jordan. Dominique. Defense.
Heck, now we even have a target score.
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some incredible performances and there could be one Sunday when the league’s best (and healthiest) gather in Utah for this year’s All Star Game.
We decided to look back and find the five best (offensive) performances in All Star Game history. Anyone who attempted to play defense was disqualified – except for the greatest to ever play the game.
1962 – All five starters for the Eastern Conference scored in double figures in the 1962 game, and they lost by 20! Why? Because this rather large and in-charge dude on the Western Conference team scored 42 points on 17-for-23 shooting and grabbed 24 rebounds. Ladies and Gentlemen – respect to Wilt Chamberlain. He even had one assist.42017 – Anthony Davis went 0-for-4 on 3’s and still scored 52 points (and grabbed 10 rebounds) as a member of the Pelicans. The game was played in New Orleans, so his Western Conference teammates deferred to The Brow. All but one, who we’ll get to.
2011 – When you post only the fourth triple-double in All Star Game history, as LeBron James did at the time in 2011, you win MVP, right? Nope. Not when Kobe Bryant went off for a game-high 37 on 14-of-26 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 148-143 Western Conference victory.
1988 – Even in an All Star Game (especially one in Chicago Stadium), Michael Jordan was not about to rein in his competitive fire. “If you guys want to have some fun, put somebody else in because I’m not losing in this building,” Jordan reportedly told coach Mike Fratello. Jordan scored 16 of his game-high 40 points in the final 5:30 to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, four steals and four blocked shots. That’s right, Jordan played defense.
2017 – Yep, two performances in the same game make the list. Yes, AD scored 52 in 31 minutes and 50 seconds. But Russell Westbrook put up this stat line – 41 points on 16-of-26 shooting (including 7-of-13 on 3’s, seven assists and five rebounds. And he did it in 19 minutes and 42 seconds.
2023? The only Jazz player is Lauri Markkanen, who is replacing the injured Zion Williamson. Markkanen is having a great season (24.9 points on 41.3-percent shooting on 3’s and 8.9 boards) but we can’t see him putting an MVP performance, even though the game is on his home court.
That leaves all options. Donovan Mitchell has had a 71-point game. Luka Doncic has three games of 50 or more and a 60. He’s thisclose to stealing LeBron’s reign as the face of the league. Heck, Darius Garland has gone for 51.
We like Damian Lillard to make a run at the Kobe Bryant MVP Trophy. The 32-year-old has never won the award. He played his college ball at Weber State, which means he’ll be a fan favorite. Wouldn’t it be cool if a guy from Weber State wins NBA All Star Game MVP? Sure would.