2006 NBA All-Star Game

2006 NBA All-Star Game
Date	February 19, 2006
Arena	Toyota Center
City	Houston
MVP	LeBron James
National anthem	Jann Arden (CAN); Destiny's Child (USA)
Halftime show	John Legend and Carrie Underwood
Attendance	18,652
Network	TNT; ESPN Radio
Announcers	Marv Albert, Doug Collins, and Steve Kerr; Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Magic Johnson (All-Star Saturday Night); Dick Stockton, John Thompson and Reggie Miller (Rookie Challenge); Jim Durham and Jack Ramsay
NBA All-Star Game
< 2005	2007 >

The 2006 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played on Sunday, February 19, 2006, at the Toyota Center in Houston, home of the Houston Rockets. The game was the 55th annual All-Star game. This was the third time that Houston had hosted the All-Star Game; the city had previously hosted the event in 1989 at the Astrodome. It was also the third All-Star Game to be hosted by the Rockets franchise, with the first in 1971, when they were known as the San Diego Rockets.

The theme song was by Houston native Chamillionaire who made a new version of his hit "Turn It Up." Trailing by 21 points, the East rode the hot shooting of LeBron James and the teamwork of the four All-Stars from the Detroit Pistons to a 122–120 victory over the West. The 21-year-old James, who scored 29 points and grabbed six rebounds, became the youngest player to win MVP. With the score tied, Dwyane Wade, who finished with 20 points, hit the game-winning layup with 16 seconds left. Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets led all players with a game-high 36 points.

Players

Spectators make their way into Toyota Center through the LaBranch street entrance prior to the tip-off of the 55th NBA All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2006.

**Eastern Conference All-Stars**
Pos.	Player	Team	# of Selections
Starters
G	Allen Iverson	Philadelphia 76ers	7th
G	Dwyane Wade	Miami Heat	2nd
F	LeBron James	Cleveland Cavaliers	2nd
F	Jermaine O'Neal^INJ	Indiana Pacers	5th
C	Shaquille O'Neal	Miami Heat	13th
Reserves
G	Gilbert Arenas^REP	Washington Wizards	2nd
G	Chauncey Billups	Detroit Pistons	1st
G	Vince Carter¹	New Jersey Nets	7th
G	Richard Hamilton	Detroit Pistons	1st
F	Chris Bosh	Toronto Raptors	1st
F	Paul Pierce	Boston Celtics	5th
F	Rasheed Wallace	Detroit Pistons	3rd
C	Ben Wallace	Detroit Pistons	4th

**Western Conference All-Stars**
Pos.	Player	Team	# of Selections
Starters
G	Steve Nash	Phoenix Suns	4th
G	Kobe Bryant	Los Angeles Lakers	8th
F	Tracy McGrady	Houston Rockets	6th
F	Tim Duncan	San Antonio Spurs	8th
C	Yao Ming	Houston Rockets	4th
Reserves
G	Ray Allen	Seattle SuperSonics	6th
G	Tony Parker	San Antonio Spurs	1st
F	Elton Brand	Los Angeles Clippers	2nd
F	Kevin Garnett	Minnesota Timberwolves	9th
C	Pau Gasol	Memphis Grizzlies	1st
F	Shawn Marion	Phoenix Suns	3rd
F	Dirk Nowitzki	Dallas Mavericks	5th

^INJ Jermaine O'Neal was unable to participate due to injury.
^REP Gilbert Arenas was named as O'Neal's replacement.^[1] ^1 Vince Carter was named as starter, replacing O'Neal.

Coaches

The Eastern Conference team was coached by Flip Saunders of the East leader Detroit Pistons, along with Sidney Lowe, Ron Harper and Don Zierden as assistant coaches. Ted Arzonico of the Orlando Magic was the athletic trainer.

The Western Conference team was coached by Avery Johnson of the Dallas Mavericks. Del Harris, Rolando Blackman and Joe Prunty served as assistant coaches, while Keith Jones of the Houston Rockets was the athletic trainer. Although the San Antonio Spurs have the best record in the West, their head coach, Gregg Popovich, was ineligible to coach in the All-Star Game because he had coached in the 2005 game and league rules prohibit a coach from coaching in consecutive All-Star Games.

Rookie Challenge

The T-Mobile Rookie challenge was played on Friday, February 17, 2006, with the Sophomores beating the Rookies 106–96. Andre Iguodala was named MVP with a game-high 30 points.

**Rookies**
Pos.	Player	Team
PF/C	Andrew Bogut	Milwaukee Bucks
SG	Luther Head	Houston Rockets
PF/C	Channing Frye	New York Knicks
SF	Danny Granger	Indiana Pacers
PG	Šarūnas Jasikevičius	Indiana Pacers
PG	Chris Paul	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
PG	Nate Robinson	New York Knicks
SF	Charlie Villanueva	Toronto Raptors
PG	Deron Williams	Utah Jazz

**Sophomores**
Pos.	Player	Team
SF/SG	Luol Deng	Chicago Bulls
PG	T. J. Ford	Milwaukee Bucks
SG	Ben Gordon	Chicago Bulls
PG	Devin Harris	Dallas Mavericks
PF/C	Dwight Howard	Orlando Magic
SG	Andre Iguodala	Philadelphia 76ers
C	Nenad Krstić	New Jersey Nets
PG	Jameer Nelson*	Orlando Magic
SF	Andrés Nocioni	Chicago Bulls
PF/C	Emeka Okafor*	Charlotte Bobcats
PG	Delonte West	Boston Celtics

* Did not participate due to injury. Delonte West replaced Jameer Nelson (sprained right foot).

Coaches

The Rooks were coached by Sidney Lowe of the Detroit Pistons, along with Elvin Hayes as the assistant coach.

The Sophomores were coached by Del Harris of the Dallas Mavericks, along with Moses Malone as the assistant coach.

Three-Point Shootout

Dirk Nowitzki won with a score of 18, beating Gilbert Arenas and Ray Allen in the final round.^[2]

**Contestants**
Pos.	Player	Team
SG	Ray Allen	Seattle SuperSonics
PG	Gilbert Arenas	Washington Wizards
SG	Raja Bell*	Phoenix Suns
PG	Chauncey Billups	Detroit Pistons
PF	Dirk Nowitzki	Dallas Mavericks
SF/SG	Quentin Richardson	New York Knicks
PG	Jason Terry	Dallas Mavericks

* Did not participate due to a family illness. Gilbert Arenas replaced Raja Bell.

Slam Dunk Contest

Nate Robinson won, beating Andre Iguodala in a dunk-off^[2] after the first ever tie in a Slam Dunk Contest. Robinson's win was highly questioned as he had missed several dunks and many speculate that Robinson was only awarded the title because of his small stature.

**Contestants**
Pos.	Player	Team	Height	Weight
SG	Andre Iguodala	Philadelphia 76ers	6'6"	207 lb
PG	Nate Robinson	New York Knicks	5'9"	180 lb
SF	Josh Smith	Atlanta Hawks	6'9"	225 lb
PF	Hakim Warrick	Memphis Grizzlies	6'9"	219 lb

Skills Challenge

Dwyane Wade won, beating LeBron James in the final round. Dwyane Wade won with a time of 26.1 seconds.^[2]

**Contestants**
Pos.	Player	Team
SF	LeBron James	Cleveland Cavaliers
PG	Steve Nash	Phoenix Suns
PG	Chris Paul	New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
SG	Dwyane Wade	Miami Heat

Shooting Stars Competition

The San Antonio team won the competition with a time of 25.1 seconds.^[2]

**Contestants**
Houston
Tracy McGrady	Houston Rockets
Sheryl Swoopes	Houston Comets
Clyde Drexler	Houston Rockets (Retired)
Los Angeles
Kobe Bryant	Los Angeles Lakers
Lisa Leslie	Los Angeles Sparks
Magic Johnson	Los Angeles Lakers (Retired)
Phoenix
Shawn Marion	Phoenix Suns
Kelly Miller	Phoenix Mercury
Dan Majerle	Phoenix Suns (Retired)
San Antonio
Tony Parker	San Antonio Spurs
Kendra Wecker	San Antonio Silver Stars
Steve Kerr	San Antonio Spurs (Retired)

References

↑ "All-Star Game Replacements for Injured Players". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
1 2 3 4 "5-foot-9 Nate Robinson wins dunk contest". ESPN. Houston. February 18, 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

[1] "All-Star Game Replacements for Injured Players". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.

[espn-2] 1 2 3 4 "5-foot-9 Nate Robinson wins dunk contest". ESPN. Houston. February 18, 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

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[2]