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The stars are about to shine in Salt Lake City.
The 72nd NBA All-Star Game will take place at the home of the Utah Jazz, and this year’s contest features a new twist. Captains were first appointed to draft teams back in 2018, and for the first time, they will make those selections in the arena right before tipoff.
Before the NBA’s top talents take the court Sunday night, here’s a look at past winners in All-Star Game history.
On top of the 71 prior NBA All-Star Games, there were also nine ABA All-Star Games from 1968 to 1976.
The Eastern Conference has 37 NBA All-Star Game victories, while the West has 29.
The East dominated the first five decades of All-Star history, but the West came on strong before the format switched from conferences to captains, winning six of seven from 2011 to 2017.
Not only is LeBron James the NBA’s all-time leading scorer – he’s also the only captain to win an NBA All-Star Game.
The league overhauled its All-Star format by introducing a captain from each conference in 2018. Those two players would then draft from the remaining player pool, beginning with the voted-in starters before moving to reserves.
James was named an All-Star captain for the sixth straight year, and he will put his perfect record on the line in Salt Lake City. Team LeBron is 5-0 with wins over Team Stephen (2018), Team Giannis (2019, 2020) and Team Durant (2021, 2022).
For the second time this month, James will pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the NBA record books.
After Abdul-Jabbar’s 18 appearances, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are next on the list with 15 apiece. The NBA named the All-Star Game MVP Award after Bryant in 2020.
Six NBA All-Star Games went into overtime. The most recent occasion came in 2003, when the West actually needed two overtimes to get past the East in Atlanta.
All-Star overtimes are a thing of the past with the installation of the Elam Ending in 2020.
Here are the scores from the first 71 NBA All-Star Games:
