Da Windy City
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A Chicago Bulls history of the NBA All-Star weekend

By Josh Bootzin

LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES: Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls (L) eyes the basket as he is guarded by Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers during their 01 February game in Los Angeles, CA. Jordan will appear in his 12th NBA All-Star game 08 February while Bryant will make his first All-Star appearance. The Lakers won the game 112-87. AFP PHOTO/Vince BUCCI (Photo credit should read Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES: Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls (L) eyes the basket as he is guarded by Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers during their 01 February game in Los Angeles, CA. Jordan will appear in his 12th NBA All-Star game 08 February while Bryant will make his first All-Star appearance. The Lakers won the game 112-87. AFP PHOTO/Vince BUCCI (Photo credit should read Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Chicago Bulls, Zach LaVine
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Air Jordan took flight for the first time at the Chicago Bulls’ All-Star Game.

The 1988 All-Star game was hosted by the Chicago Bulls at Chicago Stadium, and the brightest star in the league showed out for his home crowd in a major fashion.

Michael Jordan led the NBA in All-Star voting in 1988 for the second year in a row. At the end of the season, he would also lead the NBA in points per game for the second year in a row, lead the NBA in steals per game, receive the Defensive Player of the Year award, and receive his first MVP award.

As of yet, Jordan hadn’t necessarily proved himself at the All-Star game, where the NBA’s best and brightest share the stage. Excuse me, where the NBA’s best and brightest usually share the stage, but not in Chicago in 1988. The stage belonged to one man, and that man’s name was Michael Jordan.

Jordan scored 40 points on 17-of-23 shooting, only two points shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s then-record 42 points from the 1962 All-Star game. Jordan added eight rebounds, four steals, four blocks, and three assists in 29 minutes.

He scored 16 of his 40 points in the final 5:30 of the fourth quarter to close out Magic Johnson and the West All-Stars. Jordan was awarded the first All-Star game MVP of his career and he became the first Chicago Bull to win the coveted award.

The All-Star game itself wasn’t the only part of the weekend in which MJ reigned supreme. He also showed out in arguably the best dunk contest in NBA history, trading blows with the Hawks’ forward Dominique Wilkins, who contributed 29 points of his own in the East’s victory.

Jordan ultimately edged out Wilkins by two points with a free-throw line dunk in which Jordan brought the ball down to just above his head mid-dunk, giving the illusion of his body gliding through the air. He would forevermore be known as Air Jordan.

Finally, with an All-Star game MVP to add to a regular-season MVP, a DPOY award, a second-consecutive scoring title, and a second-consecutive slam dunk contest victory, the future of the NBA were firmly in the hands of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

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