NBA All Star Game Tickets

From the first All-Star Game held at Boston Garden in 1951, the National Basketball Association has matched the best players from the Eastern and Western Conferences against each other.

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Players in the matchup are chose through a fan ballot, with the players with the most votes gaining starting positions. The reserve players are chosen by the head coaches of each conference, however they cannot vote for their own players. Injured player replacements are chosen by the commissioner. As far as who will coach each of the representative teams for each conference, the coaches who head the team with the most wins coach their conference's All Star team. The "Riley Rule" prevents a coach from doing so two years in a row. In the 1980s the Lakers won so many times that Pat Riley had coached the All Star team for almost the entire decade. If this situation arises, the second rated team's coach will take over for that conference.

The game, though played under normal NBA rules, differs from the average game. There is much more hoopla over the players' entrances onto the court, including dance music, pyrotechnics and lighting. Uniforms just for the All Star game are designed each year, usually with red, white and blue markings. Play is usually dressed up as well, with slam dunks and alley oops to thrill the crowd.