Lakers’ Top 5 Moments in All-Star Weekend History

Number 4: Kobe Wins the Dunk Contest and the Lakers Have 4 All-Stars

As opposed to the 2018 NBA All-Star weekend, the 1997-98 All-Star weekends weekend were jam-packed with Lakers.

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones, and Nick Van Exel all made the 1998 All-Star roster. This would be the first All-Star game with both Shaq and Kobe, leading to many, many more. Also, as I mentioned above, the Lakers had three players in the rising stars game in 1997.

Kobe Bryant came up a lot in these two years, as he also added to his legendary career by becoming the 1997 Slam Dunk Champion. He beat five other players including other NBA legend Ray Allen and also Michael Finley. Kobe became the first Laker ever to win the event and cemented his status in his first year as a high-flyer.

Sadly, this is also considered to be one of the worst dunk contests ever. But that doesn’t stop us from adding it to Kobe’s list of accolades whenever we get a chance to!