Photo Credit: NBAE via Gerty Images
Basketball is a popular sport that attracts millions of fans around the world. But no basketball game has ever drawn as many spectators as the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, which set the attendance record for the sport with 108,713 people in the stands.
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was the 59th edition of the annual exhibition game that features the best players from the Eastern and Western Conferences of the NBA. The game was played 14 years ago today, on February 14, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The game was originally scheduled to be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. However, due to the high demand for tickets, the NBA decided to move the game to the Cowboys Stadium, which had a capacity of over 100,000 seats. The stadium was also equipped with a giant video screen that measured 160 feet by 72 feet, the largest in the world at the time.
The game was a close and exciting contest, with the Eastern Conference defeating the Western Conference, 141-139. The East’s Dwyane Wade, who played for the Miami Heat, was named the Most Valuable Player of the game, after scoring 28 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out six assists, and making five steals. The West’s Carmelo Anthony, who played for the Denver Nuggets, led his team with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
The game also featured several other stars, such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, and Tim Duncan. Some of them were making their first or final appearances in the All-Star Game, such as Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, and Allen Iverson. The game also honored the 50th anniversary of the NBA’s first All-Star Game in 1951, by wearing retro uniforms that resembled those worn by the players back then.
The game also made history, by breaking the previous attendance record for a basketball game, which was 78,129, set in 2003 at a college game between Kentucky and Michigan State at Ford Field in Detroit. The game also surpassed the previous record for an NBA All-Star Game, which was 44,735, set in 1989 at the Houston Astrodome.
