A Chicago Bulls history of the NBA All-Star weekend
By Josh Bootzin
The Chicago Bulls started sending a duo to the NBA All-Star Game.
Michael Jordan’s regular-season dominance proved not to be enough for postseason success but the emergence of another All-Star on the roster meant championships were at the Bulls’ fingertips.
Jordan would continue to lead the NBA in All-Star voting every season until his retirement in 1993. In 1989, he tied Karl Malone with a game-high 28 points. The West won the game 143-134, and Malone took home the MVP.
The following season, for the first time in nine years, the Bulls would send multiple players to the All-Star game. Scottie Pippen recorded four points, one rebound, one steal, and one block in 12 minutes in his All-Star debut. Jordan contributed an East-leading 17 points in a balanced win that saw seven East All-Stars score in double digits.
In 1991, Jordan led all scorers with 26 points and added five rebounds, five assists, and two steals in another Eastern Conference victory but fell short of the MVP as Charles Barkley amassed 17 points and 22 rebounds.
In 1992, coming off the first championship in Bulls history, Pippen took the place of the injured Larry Bird to mark the second time that two Bulls started in the same All-Star Game. Jordan and Pippen combined for 32 points, six assists, five rebounds, and four steals in a resounding loss to the Magic-Johnson-and-Clyde-Drexler-led Western Conference All-Stars.
Many casual Bulls fans might not recognize the name, Craig Hodges. Hodges spent four seasons with the Bulls (1989-1992) and never averaged more than 10 points per game but he stamped his name in Bulls All-Star history by winning the Three-Point Shootout in 1990, 1991, and 1992.
Hodges joins Larry Bird as the only player in NBA history to win more than two such contests, and they both won their three in back-to-back-to-back seasons.
Jordan and Pippen would both earn starting spots of their own accord in 1993, generating the two highest vote totals in the NBA. They became the first teammates to lead the league in All-Star voting since Julius Erving and Moses Malone a decade earlier.
The Bulls duo combined for 40 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, nine steals, and two blocks in a three-point loss to the West, which was led by Utah Jazz teammates Karl Malone and John Stockton who would share the game MVP.
The Bulls would go on to complete their first three-peat in the 1993 season and Michael Jordan would retire, opening the door for Scottie Pippen to take over in Chicago.