# 1988 NBA All-Star Game

The 38th National Basketball Association All-Star Game was played on February 7, 1988, at Chicago Stadium in Chicago. The East won the game 138-133 and Michael Jordan (who scored a game-high 40 points) was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP).

## Summary

The Eastern Conference team featured Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, who had faced each other the preceding night in the slam dunk contest, along with Boston Celtics trio Larry Bird, Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale, plus Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, Maurice Cheeks and Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers, Moses Malone of the Washington Bullets, Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons, Doc Rivers of the Atlanta Hawks, and Brad Daugherty of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Western Conference team was led by Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers, the Utah Jazz's power forward Karl Malone and the Houston Rockets' center Akeem Olajuwon. Joining them were James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Lakers, Fat Lever and Alex English of the Denver Nuggets, Xavier McDaniel of the Seattle SuperSonics, Alvin Robertson of the San Antonio Spurs and Mark Aguirre and James Donaldson of the Dallas Mavericks. In this game, Abdul-Jabbar would become the all-time leading scorer in NBA All-Star Game history, a distinction he held for 15 years.
The Eastern Conference was coached by Mike Fratello of the Atlanta Hawks, and the Western Conference by Pat Riley of the Lakers.
The game was telecast by CBS Sports, with Dick Stockton and Billy Cunningham commentating, and Pat O'Brien and Lesley Visser reporting from the sidelines. On radio, ABC Radio broadcast their fourth consecutive All-Star game, with Lakers announcer Chick Hearn working alongside Celtics announcer Johnny Most, and the two trading roles on play-by-play and color analysis. ABC's regular NBA announcer Fred Manfra served as a sideline reporter.

## Rosters

Eastern Conference All-Stars :
| Pos. | Player | Team | Appearance |
| Starters ||||
| G | Isiah Thomas | Detroit Pistons | 7th |
| G | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls | 4th |
| F | Dominique Wilkins | Atlanta Hawks | 3rd |
| F | Larry Bird | Boston Celtics | 9th |
| C | Moses Malone | Washington Bullets | 11th |
| Reserves ||||
| G | Danny Ainge | Boston Celtics | 1st |
| C | Patrick Ewing | New York Knicks | 2nd |
| G | Doc Rivers | Atlanta Hawks | 1st |
| C | Brad Daugherty | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1st |
| F | Charles Barkley | Philadelphia 76ers | 2nd |
| F | Kevin McHale | Boston Celtics | 4th |
| G | Maurice Cheeks | Philadelphia 76ers | 4th |
| Head coach: Mike Fratello (Atlanta Hawks) ||||
Western Conference All-Stars :
| Pos. | Player | Team | Appearance |
| Starters ||||
| G | Magic Johnson | Los Angeles Lakers | 8th |
| G | Fat Lever | Denver Nuggets | 1st |
| F | Alex English | Denver Nuggets | 7th |
| F | Karl Malone | Utah Jazz | 1st |
| C | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets | 4th |
| Reserves ||||
| G | Clyde Drexler | Portland Trail Blazers | 2nd |
| C | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Los Angeles Lakers | 18th |
| F | James Worthy | Los Angeles Lakers | 3rd |
| F | Xavier McDaniel | Seattle SuperSonics | 1st |
| F | Mark Aguirre | Dallas Mavericks | 3rd |
| G | Alvin Robertson | San Antonio Spurs | 3rd |
| C | James Donaldson | Dallas Mavericks | 1st |
| C | Steve Johnson | Portland Trail Blazers | 1st |
| Head coach: Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers) ||||
^DNP Steve Johnson was unable to play due to injury. James Donaldson was selected as his replacement.

## Score by periods

| Score by Periods: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| East | 27 | 33 | 39 | 39 | 138 |
| West | 32 | 22 | 35 | 44 | 133 |
* Halftime: East, 60–54
* Third quarter: East, 99–89
* Officials: Darell Garretson and Jake O'Donnell
* Attendance: 18,403

## NBA All-Star Legends Classic

* This game featured the East including the likes of Randy Smith, Dave Cowens, Johnny Green, Calvin Murphy, John Havlicek, Gail Goodrich, Jamaal Wilkes, Oscar Robertson, Clifford Ray and Tom Sanders
* On the West side it featured the likes of Rick Barry, Doug Collins, Dave Bing, Jerry Sloan, Zelmo Beaty, Bailey Howell, Tom Hawkins, Nate Thurmond, Dolph Schayes and Norm Van Lier.