# 1952 NBA All-Star Game

The 1952 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1952, at Boston Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the second edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 1951–52 NBA season. The Eastern All-Stars team defeated the Western All-Stars team 108–91. This was the East's second successive win over the West. Philadelphia Warriors' Paul Arizin, who led the East with 26 points, was named as the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

## Roster

The players for the All-Star Game were chosen by sports writers in several cities. They were not allowed to select players from their own cities. Players were selected without regard to position. Ten players from each Division were selected to represent the Eastern and Western Division in the All-Star Game. However, Dolph Schayes and Larry Foust suffered injuries and were unable to participate in the game; two other players were added to the roster. Nine players from the previous year's Eastern All-Stars roster returned for their second straight selection. Only seven players from the previous year's Western All-Stars roster returned. Six players, Leo Barnhorst, Arnie Risen, Fred Scolari, Paul Walther, Bobby Wanzer and Max Zaslofsky, were selected for the first time. Four teams, the Minneapolis Lakers, the New York Knickerbockers, the Philadelphia Warriors and the Rochester Royals, were represented by three players each on the roster. The starters were chosen by each team's head coach. Minneapolis Lakers head coach John Kundla returned to coach the Western All-Stars for the second straight year. Syracuse Nationals head coach Al Cervi was named as the Eastern All-Stars head coach.
Eastern All-Stars :
| Pos. | Player | Team | No. of selections |
| Starters ||||
| F/G | Paul Arizin | Philadelphia Warriors | 2nd |
| G | Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 2nd |
| F/C | Harry Gallatin | New York Knickerbockers | 2nd |
| C/F | Ed Macauley | Boston Celtics | 2nd |
| G/F | Andy Phillip | Philadelphia Warriors | 2nd |
| Reserves ||||
| F/C | Joe Fulks | Philadelphia Warriors | 2nd |
| G | Dick McGuire | New York Knickerbockers | 2nd |
| C/F | Red Rocha | Syracuse Nationals | 2nd |
| F/C | Dolph Schayes | Syracuse Nationals | 2nd |
| G | Fred Scolari | Baltimore Bullets | 1st |
| G/F | Max Zaslofsky | New York Knickerbockers | 1st |
| Head coach: Al Cervi (Syracuse Nationals) ||||
Western All-Stars :
| Pos. | Player | Team | No. of selections |
| Starters ||||
| C | George Mikan | Minneapolis Lakers | 2nd |
| F/C | Vern Mikkelsen | Minneapolis Lakers | 2nd |
| F/C | Jim Pollard | Minneapolis Lakers | 2nd |
| G/F | Paul Walther | Indianapolis Olympians | 1st |
| G | Bobby Wanzer | Rochester Royals | 1st |
| Reserves ||||
| F/G | Leo Barnhorst | Indianapolis Olympians | 1st |
| G | Frank Brian | Fort Wayne Pistons | 2nd |
| G/F | Bob Davies | Rochester Royals | 2nd |
| F/G | Dwight Eddleman | Milwaukee Hawks | 2nd |
| C/F | Larry Foust | Fort Wayne Pistons | 2nd |
| C/F | Arnie Risen | Rochester Royals | 1st |
| Head coach:John Kundla (Minneapolis Lakers) ||||

## Game

The East defeated the West for the second successive year. The West trailed by four and five points at the end of the first and second quarter respectively. Then the East outscored the West by six points in the third and fourth quarter to win the game by 17 points. Philadelphia Warriors' Paul Arizin and Minneapolis Lakers' George Mikan both scored a game-high 26 points. Mikan also added a game-high 15 rebounds but his team only had a 35.9 field goal percentage. On the other hand, six Eastern players scored in double figures as their team made 49.4 percent of its shots. Boston Celtics guard Bob Cousy also recorded a game-high 13 assists for the East. Arizin was named as the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. However, he was honored a year later during the 1953 All-Star Game, when the league decided to designate an MVP for each year's game.

### Box score

* February 11, 1952
Eastern All-Stars 108, Western All-Stars 91 :
| Scoring by quarter: 26–22, 23–22, 33–27, 26–20 |||
| Pts: Paul Arizin 26 Rebs: Harry Gallatin 9 Asts: Bob Cousy 13 | Pts: George Mikan 26 Rebs: George Mikan 15 Asts: Davies, Pollard, Risen 5 each |
* Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 10,221 Referees:
* Sid Borgia
* Stan Stutz
Eastern All-Stars :
| Player | Pos | Min | FGM | FGA | FTM | FTA | Reb | Ast | PF | Pts |
| Starters |||||||||||
| Bob Cousy | G | 33 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 9 |
| Andy Phillip | G/F | 30 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 11 |
| Paul Arizin | F/G | 32 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
| Harry Gallatin | F/C | 22 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Ed Macauley | C/F | 28 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
| Bench |||||||||||
| Red Rocha | C/F | 28 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| Max Zaslofsky | G/F | 25 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| Dick McGuire | G | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Fred Scolari | G | 15 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Joe Fulks | F/C | 9 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| Dolph Schayes | F/C | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury |
| Team totals | Team totals | 240 | 39 | 79 | 30 | 37 | 44 | 37 | 16 | 108 |
Western All-Stars :
| Player | Pos | Min | FGM | FGA | FTM | FTA | Reb | Ast | PF | Pts |
| Starters |||||||||||
| Bobby Wanzer | G | 22 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Paul Walther | G/F | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Vern Mikkelsen | F/C | 23 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Jim Pollard | F/C | 29 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| George Mikan | C | 29 | 9 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 26 |
| Bench |||||||||||
| Bob Davies | G/F | 27 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Dwight Eddleman | F/G | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Frank Brian | G | 25 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| Leo Barnhorst | F/G | 23 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Arnie Risen | C/F | 19 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Larry Foust | C/F | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury | Did not play due to injury |
| Team totals | Team totals | 240 | 37 | 103 | 17 | 21 | 59 | 27 | 28 | 91 |