The 35th National Basketball Association All-Star Game was played on February 10, 1985 at the Hoosier Dome, Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana….as the coaches were K. C. Jones (Boston Celtics) for the East….and Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers) for the West. The East Team was led by Detroits’ Isiah Thomas with 22 points….followed by Celtics’ Larry Bird with 21, Bucks’ Terry Cummings with 17, Knicks’ Benard King with 13 and 76’ers Dr. J, Julius Erving with 12 points….while the West Team was led by Rockets’ Ralph Sampson with 24 points and 10 rebounds….who would win the MVP of the game… followed by Spurs’ George Ice Man Gervin with 23 points….then came Lakers’ Magic Johnson with 21 points and 15 assists….with the Suns’ Larry Nance bagging 16 points….while Mavs’ Rolando Blackman scored 15……as the West would win the game by a score of 140 – 129…..after being tied 68 – 68 at halftime and the West being up 97 – 92 at the end of the 3rd Quarter….but the real highlight of the All Star Weekend was the Slam Dunk Contest….which featured two “high-flying” future NBA Hall of Fame members in Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan….in what would be the 1st edition of several epic confrontations in the Slam Dunk Contest to come.
The 1985 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is widely heralded as one of the greatest dunk contests of all time. It featured two of the highest flyers to ever play the game in MJ and Nique….along with Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving, Darrell Griffith, Larry Nance, Terence Stansbury, and Orlando Woolridge….as both Nance and Erving had first round byes due to their finishing 1st and 2nd in the previous year’s contest.
The first round was highlighted with the only perfect score of 50 in the round by Stansbury…as the judges gave him a perfect score on a 360 statue of liberty dunk. The other two highs from the round were two 49’s both performed by Dominique Wilkins….as Drexler, Griffith and Woolridge were eliminated after the first round…..while Jordan, Stansbury and Wilkins advanced.
Michael Jordan scored the only perfect 50 of the 2nd round with his last dunk….when he jumped from the free throw line and slammed it home with one hand….as both Stansbury and Wilkins each scored a 49 in this round….when Erving, Nance and Stansbury were eliminated….as Jordan and Wilkins advanced to the final round.
Dominique Wilkins scored two perfect 50’s in the final round….when on the first dunk he bounced the ball off the backboard and reversed it home with two hands….then on his second dunk….he performed a huge two hand windmill dunk that sealed the victory for him….as this was the first of many battles for slam dunk supremacy fought between MJ and Nique….with round one going to Dominique.
This 1985 NBA All Star Game showcases 15 future NBA Hall of Fame players including Adrian Dantley, Ralph Sampson, Kareem Abdule-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, George Gervin, Alex English, Akeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Robert Parrish, Benard King and Dennis Johnson….and when you throw in two Hall of Fame coaches in K. C. Jones and Pat Riley….you’ve got the finest collection of talent maybe ever assembled on a basketball court….which makes this video MUST SEE TV for any and all basketball fans.
