In 1951, Cohen joined the NBA as the league's publicity director. He teamed up with NBA President Maurice Podoloff, forming a two-man office. At that time, the basketball world had just been stunned by the college basketball point-shaving scandal. Cohen came up with an idea of hosting an All-Star Game featuring the league's best player, similar to the Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. He believed that such showcase would regain fans' interest in basketball. Podoloff and the majority of team owners were pessimistic that the idea would go bad and taint the league's image. However, Boston Celtics owner remained confident with Cohen's idea. He offered to host the game and to cover all the expenses or potential losses incurred from the game. The first NBA All-Star Game was held on March 2, 1951 at the Boston Garden. The game became a success, drawing a crowd of 10,094, much higher than that season's average attendance of 3,500. Since then, the All-Star Game became an annual mid-season tradition in the NBA.