A Chicago Bulls history of the NBA All-Star weekend
By Josh Bootzin
The Chicago Bulls changed forever in the mid-80s with this new star.
Most Chicago sports interest was centered around the Bears in the mid-1980s but that all changed when Michael Jordan quickly established himself as one of the most astounding professional sports players the world had ever seen.
Jordan was named an All-Star starter in 1985, his rookie season. Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, and Yao Ming have been the only other rookies to start an All-Star game since. Jordan finished with the third-most votes in the East and fifth in the league. That all came as a rookie.
He didn’t have the most productive debut, managing seven points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block on 2-for-9 shooting. But MJ was just a kid and the league still belonged to the likes of Kareem, Moses Malone, and Dr. J.
There was also the matter of the “freezeout” controversy. The rumor was that Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson plotted to embarrass Jordan in his first All-Star game. The two would make sure to be guarding each other and would relax on defense, allowing the other to run their team’s offense and look good doing it. This way, Jordan wouldn’t get the ball as much and he’d be forced to guard George Gervin.
Whether the “freezeout” really happened or was just a rumor, it definitely seemed to fuel Jordan. The following Bulls game after the All-Star break was in Chicago against Detroit and MJ went off for 49 points and14 rebounds against Isiah Thomas in an overtime win.
Many point to this as the beginning of the bitter Bulls-Pistons rivalry that would come to a climax later in the decade. In the following season, Jordan led the entire Eastern Conference in All-Star votes. He didn’t play in the game due to injury.
In 1987, Jordan led the entire NBA with over 1.1 million votes. He, unfortunately, struggled again in his second All-Star appearance, mustering 11 points, five turnovers, four assists, and two steals.
Jordan did however manage to win the first dunk contest by a Chicago Bull and the first of his career. He wowed the entire building with his signature free-throw line dunk.