Lega Basket All Star Game

The Lega Basket All Star Game, also commonly known as the Italian Basketball All-Star Game, is an all-star game that organised annually by the Lega Basket, in conjunction with RCS Sport and the Italian Basketball Federation. It brings together a selection of players from the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), which is the highest-tier level professional basketball league in Italy, to play between themselves, or against another opponent. First held in 1982, the event has seen a fluctuating history, with numerous changes to its format through the years, including the participation of the senior men's Italian national team.

Starting with the 2016–17 season, the annual edition of the All-Star Game was not held.[1]

History

The Italian Basketball Federation organised an All-Star Game in 1980, to celebrate the Italian national team's silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. The first official All-Star Game, which was held on 12 May 1982, was organised by the Lega Basket, which is the entity responsible for organizing the top two professional leagues in Italy, the first-tier level Serie A and the second-tier level Serie A2. Two teams from the respective divisions and the coaches, were chosen by the public, at the league's games, a few weeks before the all-star game, which was held at the Palasport di San Siro in Milan.[2]

For the November 1992 edition, the event was named the ULEB All-Star Game, and it was organised in partnership with the Spanish ACB League's organizing body, the ACB. A squad from each league competed in the game, which was held in Madrid. The formula was repeated the next year, that time in Rome. The 1994 edition of the ULEB All-Star Game, also featured a team of the top-tier level French Pro A League's LNB All-Stars.[3] The three squads, which were mostly made up of foreign players, played each other in games of a single 20 minute quarter, in Valencia's Fuente de San Luis.[4]

The senior men's Italian national team has participated in a number of All-Star Games. Originally, the squad of Serie A based players was very similar to the main squad, with only one player (the Spain-based Nikola Radulović) from the 2003 EuroBasket bronze medal team absent for the December 2003 edition.[5] In later editions, with the departure of a number of players abroad (to the NBA for example), the Italian squads were more experimental, and consisted mostly of reserve team players and promising young players.[6][7]

The 2014 and 2015 editions saw the absence of EA7 Emporio Armani Milano players, as the club was involved in EuroLeague games during the same period.[7][8] In November 2016, Lega Basket canceled the All-Star Game for the 2016–17 LBA season. That was decided by the General Meeting of the LBA clubs, which met in Bologna, at the headquarters of the Lega Basket. According to Lega Basket's President, Egidio Bianchi, the Lega Basket was unable to produce an interesting format under which to hold the All-Star Game.[9]

Editions

Season	Date	Location	Result	MVP
1981–82	12 May 1982	Palasport di San Siro, Milan	A2 Caselli 133–125 A1 Tempest	Mike D'Antoni / Abdul Jeelani
1982–83	9 February 1983	Caserta	A1 Ocean Star 137–121 A2 Malaguti	Clyde Bradshaw
1983–84	29 February 1984	Treviso	A1 S.O.S. 140–127 A2 Tempest	Stan Pietkiewicz
1984–85	13 February 1985	Florence	A1 Liberti 149–143 A2 Nuova Stampa	Joe Bryant
1985–86	18 December 1985	Rome	A2 E.M.M. 120–112 A1 Riccadonna	Joe Bryant (2)
1986–87	17 December 1986	Rome	A1 Reebok 177–147 A2 Reebok	-
1987–88	21 November 1987	Rome	A1 Reebok 157–154 A2 Reebok	Oscar Schmidt
1988–89	26 November 1988	Rome	A1 Reebok 167–143 A2 Reebok	Micheal Ray Richardson
1989–90	25 November 1989	Rome	South Reebok 178–166 North Reebok	Wes Matthews
1990–91	1 December 1990	Rome	South Paluani 182–176 North Paluani	Michael Cooper
1991–92	16 November 1991	Rome	Italy 136–122 Paluani All-Stars	Dino Rađa
1992–93 (ULEB Edition)	14 November 1992	Madrid	All-Stars of Spain Fiat 136–123 All-Stars of Italy Polti	Arvydas Sabonis (ACB All-Stars)
1993–94 (ULEB Edition)	13 November 1993	Rome	All-Stars of Italy Polti 135–131 All-Stars of Spain	Micheal Ray Richardson (2) (Lega All-Stars)
1994–95 (ULEB Edition)	14 November 1994	Fuente de San Luis, Valencia	All-Stars of Italy 58–54 All-Stars of France All-Stars of Spain 59–43 All-Stars of France All-Stars of Italy 53–48 All-Stars of Spain	Aleksandar Đorđević (Lega All-Stars)
1995–96	24 February 1996	Rome	Bostik All-Stars 113–112 Italy	Orlando Woolridge
1996–97	22 February 1997	Pesaro	Bostik All-Stars 131–127 Italy	Mike Iuzzolino
1997–98	30 November 1997	Florence	Bostik All-Stars 121–116 Italy	Thurl Bailey
1998–99	29 November 1998	Naples	Bison All-Stars 167–145 Uhu All-Stars	Vincenzo Esposito
1999–00	27 November 1999	PalaMalaguti, Casalecchio di Reno	Italy 99–81 Champion All-Stars	Andrea Meneghin
2000–01	25 January 2001	PalaTrieste, Trieste	Italy 101–83 Champion All-Stars	Gregor Fučka
2003–04	13 December 2003	PalaFiumara, Genoa	All-Stars 106–99 Italy	Maurice Evans
2004–05	11 December 2004	PalaRuffini, Turin	Italy 100–98 All-Stars	James Singleton
2005–06	11 December 2005	PalaMalaguti, Casalecchio di Reno	AIL All-Star 112–101 Quadrifoglio Verde All-Star	Carlton Myers
2006–07	23 December 2006	PalaRuffini, Turin	Italy 96–73 Champion All-Stars	Massimo Bulleri
2010–11	13 March 2011	Mediolanum Forum, Milan	Italy 90–88 All-Stars	Stefano Mancinelli
2011–12	11 March 2012	Adriatic Arena, Pesaro	Italy 91–85 All-Stars	Daniel Hackett
2012–13	16 December 2012	BiellaForum, Biella	Italy 107–92 All-Stars	Stefano Gentile
2013–14	13 April 2014	PalaRossini, Ancona	Italy 76–59 All-Stars	Stefano Gentile (2)
2014–15[10]	17 January 2015	PalaOlimpia, Verona	Named Sport Team 146–143 Dolomiti Energia Team	Christian Eyenga
2015–16	10 January 2016	PalaTrento, Trento	Cavit Team 154–148 Dolomiti Energia Team	Alex Kirk
2016–17	Not held[1]
2017–18

Three-Point Contest

Bob McAdoo won the three-point shootout contest in 1986.

Danilo Gallinari won the three-point shootout contest in 2006.

The Three-point contest (Italian: gara del tiro da tre punti), known as the Festina Three Points Contest for sponsorship reasons, was first organised during the December 1986 edition of the all-star game. Oscar Schmidt is the record-holder with four wins in total. He won the Italian League's contest three times (1987, 1988, 1989), and also won it once as a member of the Spanish League All-Star team, during the 1993 All-Star Game 3-Point Contest, which was held between the Spanish League's All-Stars and the Italian League's All-Stars. He also added an unofficial title in December 2003, after he beat the competition's official winner Michele Mian, in an extra contest after the official one.[11]

The latest edition to date (2015), saw the contestants try to score as many three-point field goals as possible, from five shooting positions around the three-point line. With each position consisting of a rack with four balls worth three-points, and a special "Money Ball" worth six; for a total of twenty five shots in one minute, with the highest score crowning the winner.[12]

Results
Season	Winner	Runner-up
1986–87	Bob McAdoo	-
1987–88	Oscar Schmidt	-
1988–89	Oscar Schmidt (2)	-
1989–90	Oscar Schmidt (3)	-
1990–91	Michael Cooper	-
1991–92	Alessandro Fantozzi	-
1992–93 (ULEB Edition)	Danko Cvjetićanin (ACB All-Stars)	-
1993–94 (ULEB Edition)	Oscar Schmidt (4) (ACB All-Stars)	-
1994–95 (ULEB Edition)	Aleksandar Đorđević (Lega All-Stars)	-
1995–96	Steve Henson	-
1996–97	Alessandro Abbio	-
1997–98	Henry Williams	-
1998–99	Steve Burtt	-
1999–00	Alessandro Abbio (2)	-
2000–01	Giacomo Galanda	-
2003–04	Michele Mian	Matt Bonner
2004–05	Giacomo Galanda (2)	-
2005–06	Dante Calabria	-
2006–07	Danilo Gallinari	-
2010–11	Nicolás Mazzarino	-
2011–12	Travis Diener	Jeff Viggiano
2012–13	Carlton Myers	-
2013–14	Drake Diener	-
2014–15	Andy Rautins	Marco Spanghero
2015–16	Krunoslav Simon	Tyrus McGee
2016–17	Not held[1]
2017–18

Slam dunk contest

James White, two-time winner of the slam dunk contest (2011, 2012).

The slam dunk contest (Italian: gara delle schiacciate), known as the Openjobmetis Slam Dunk Contest for sponsorship reasons, was first organised by Spain's Liga ACB during the November 1992 and 1994 editions played in that country. The first time it was organised by the Lega Basket was during the December 2005 edition, dunk specialist James White is the record-holder with two wins (Chandler Thompson won both ACB editions).[13]

White refused to defend his title in 2014, having decided to retire from dunk contests following his last place in the 2013 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.[14] It formerly saw the contestants each have two dunk attempts, with the pair performing the best judged dunks reaching the final, where another couple of attempts crowned the winner.[15] The 2015 edition saw the contestants separated into two teams, consisting of players DeQuan Jones and Tony Mitchell each paired with a member of the Da Move freestyle group, whose five attempts each were judged by a panel of experts and the public[12]

Results
Season	Winner	Runner-up
1992–93 (ULEB Edition)	Chandler Thompson (ACB All-Stars)	Antonio Davis
1994–95 (ULEB Edition)	Chandler Thompson (2) (ACB All-Stars)	Darrell Armstrong
2005–06	Pervis Pasco	-
2006–07	Paul McPherson	-
2010–11	James White	-
2011–12	James White (2)	Aubrey Coleman
2012–13	Tommaso Raspino	-
2013–14	Achille Polonara	-
2014–15	Tony Mitchell	DeQuan Jones
2015–16	Awudu Abass	Micah Downs / Trent Lockett
2016–17	Not held[1]
2017–18

Family Shootout

The Grundig sponsored Family Shootout was a one-off event that was organised during the April 2014 edition. It saw four pairs of current or former professional players from the same family, contest successive rounds of four shots from different positions.[16] The father-son pair of Nando and Stefano Gentile, prevailed in the final over brothers Michele and Luca Vitali.[17]

Under-23 game

The December 2003 edition included a game played between mostly (but not exclusively) under-23 Italian players, in view of judging their potential as part of the 2005 Belgrade EuroBasket, project by the Italian national team's organisation. Andrea Michelori top-scored with 28 points in the game. Team Blues beat Team Whites, by a score of 90–72.[18][19]

References

1. "Legabasket, annullato l'All Star Game di Serie A di questa stagione" [Legabasket canceled the All Star Game in Serie A for this season] (in Italian). irpinanews.it. 2 November 2016.
2. "Storia della Lega Basket" [Lega Basket history] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Basket. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
3. "Storia della Lega Basket" [Lega Basket history] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Basket. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
4. Casanova, Juan Antonio (13 November 1994). "Extranjero de Italia, Francia y España juegan por el espectáculo" [Foreigners of Italy, France and Spain play for show]. hemeroteca.laVanguardia.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2015.
5. "Mian nell'Italia all'All star game" [Mian with Italy at the All Star Game]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). MessageroVeneto. 2 December 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
6. "Italy mini training camp boosts youth". FIBAEurope.com. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
7. Valenti, Stefano (12 April 2014). "Basket, ecco l'All Star Game: Pianigiani con un'Italia di giovani" [Basketball, here's the All Star Game: Pianigiani with an Italy of youngsters]. Repubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 September 2015.
8. "Basket, All Star Game senza i milanesi impegnati in Eurolega" [Basketball, All Star Game without the Milanese caught up in the Euroleague]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). 5 January 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
9. "Annullato l' All Star Game 2017" [Canceled the 2017 All Star Game]. basketnet.it (in Italian). 2 November 2016.
10. "Beko All Star Game 2015, il Named Sport Team batte il Dolomiti Energia Team 146 a 143" [Beko All Star Game 2015, Named Sport Team beats Dolomiti Energia Team 146 to 143]. PallacanestroReggiana.it (in Italian). 17 January 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
11. "ASG, Oscar batte Mian" [ASG, Oscar beats Mian]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). 13 December 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
12. Valente, Matteo (16 January 2015). ""All star game", partita fra le stelle del campionato italiano di basket" [«All star game», match between the stars of the Italian basketball league]. CorrieredelVeneto.Corriere.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 September 2015.
13. "Historia del All Star – concurso de mates" [All Star History – dunk contest]. ACB.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2015.
14. "Drew Gordon alla gara delle schiacciate" [Drew Gordon at the dunk contest]. LaNuovaSardegna.it (in Italian). 29 March 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
15. "TIM All Star Game: i partecipanti alla gara delle schiacciate" [TIM All Star Game: the slam dunk contest participants]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). 7 December 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
16. "Presentato a Torino il TIM All Star Game" [The TIM All Star Game was presented in Turin]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). 30 November 2004. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
17. "L'Italia comincia bene il 2014 all'All star game" [Italy starts 2014 well at the All Star Game]. MessageroVeneto.it (in Italian). 14 April 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
18. Morelli, Valerio (3 December 2003). "Un po' di Snaidero sbarca nel basket Usa" [A bit of Snaidero comes to American basketball]. GElocal.it/MessageroVeneto (in Italian). Udine. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
19. "ASG, Progetto Belgrado 2005: vincono gli Azzurri" [ASG, Belgrade 2005 project: the Blues win]. LegaBasket.it (in Italian). 13 December 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2015.

External links

• All Star Game boxscores by Lega Basket (in Italian) Retrieved 12 September 2015
• All Star Game team and individual results by Lega Basket (in Italian) Retrieved 12 September 2015