Michael Jordan always played hard against his toughest competitors and he didn’t wait for the playoffs to do so. So it only makes sense that His Airness was just as lethal in the annual All-Star Game.
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Jordan played in 13 All-Star games in his NBA career, but his performance in the 1997 edition will be cemented in the record books forever. Off of just 26 minutes of playing time, Jordan scored 14 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and had 11 assists. In doing so, he became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double in an All-Star game.
The February 9 game at Gund Arena in Cleveland saw the East beat the West 132-120.
Interestingly enough, MJ’s incredible performance in 1997 didn’t even earn him the All-Star game MVP. That honor went to Glenn Rice, who dropped 26 points — including 4 three-pointers — in the East’s 12-point victory. Regardless, Jordan’s history-making game is still talked about today.
In fact, Jordan stood alone with the accolade until 2011, when the league’s next prodigy, LeBron James, recorded a triple-double in that year’s All-Star game. MJ and LBJ would then be joined by Dwyane Wade in 2012 and Kevin Durant in 2017.
Jordan is ranked 20th all-time in triple-doubles with 30, well behind Russell Westbrook, whose 202 TDs top the list. But MJ will always have the bragging rights about being the first to do it in an All-Star game. And it was on the special occasion of the NBA’s 50th anniversary as well.
