February 2000 felt different. You could feel it in the air at the Oakland Arena. The NBA was at a weird crossroads, honestly. Michael Jordan was gone—the second retirement, not the Wizards comeback—and the league was desperately clawing for a new identity. People were worried. Ratings were shaky. Then, the All Star NBA 2000 weekend happened, and suddenly, the "post-MJ hangover" didn't seem so bad anymore.
It wasn't just a game. It was a literal shift in the tectonic plates of basketball culture.
The Night Vince Carter Saved the Dunk Contest
If we’re being real, the Slam Dunk Contest was dead. It had been cancelled in 1998 and replaced by some weird "2ball" competition that nobody liked. By the time the All Star NBA 2000 festivities rolled around, the league was praying for a miracle. They got it in the form of a 6'6" wing from Daytona Beach named Vince Carter.
Vince didn't just win; he committed a felony on the rim.
That first dunk—the 360-degree windmill going the "wrong" way—is burned into the retinas of every millennial sports fan. Kenny Smith screaming "It's over!" into the microphone wasn't hyperbole. It was a factual observation. Carter followed it up with the "honey dip" (shoving his entire forearm into the rim) and a between-the-legs bounce pass from his cousin, Tracy McGrady. People forget T-Mac and Steve Francis were actually incredible that night too. In any other year, Francis’s explosive power or McGrady’s fluidity would have taken the trophy. But they were playing for second place.
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Carter’s performance was so dominant it actually became a problem. He set the bar so high that for the next decade, every dunker felt like a disappointment. It was the peak of "Vinsanity," and it remains the gold standard for the event.
A Changing of the Guard in the West
The actual game on Sunday had a different vibe. You had the old lions like Karl Malone and John Stockton still hanging around, but the power was shifting. This was the year Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan shared the MVP trophy. Think about that for a second. Two of the greatest big men to ever lace them up, splitting the honors after the Western Conference took down the East 137-126.
Shaq was in his absolute physical prime. He ended the 1999-2000 season as the MVP, a scoring champion, and eventually a Finals MVP. In Oakland, he was just showing off. He put up 22 points and 9 boards in just 25 minutes. Duncan was the perfect foil—quiet, fundamental, and impossibly efficient.
The East had its own stars, but they felt a bit more... transitional. Allen Iverson was starting to become a global icon, bringing the hip-hop aesthetic to the forefront of the league. He led the East with 26 points, playing with a reckless abandon that made the veterans look slow. You could see the friction between the "suit and tie" era of the 90s and the "braids and headbands" era that was about to take over.
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The Roster Breakdown (That Actually Mattered)
- The Icons: Dale Davis was an All-Star. Let that sink in. It was a weird time for Eastern Conference bigs.
- The New Guys: This was the first All-Star appearance for Ray Allen and Iverson.
- The Absences: Grant Hill was voted in but couldn't play due to injury. He was the bridge between Jordan and the new kids, and his physical breakdown started right around this time.
Why the Year 2000 Was a Cultural Reset
Most people look back at the All Star NBA 2000 game and just see a box score. They're wrong. It was the first "modern" All-Star weekend. The fashion was Baggy with a capital B. The shoes—like the AND1 Tai Chis Vince wore—became instant legends. This was the moment the NBA realized it didn't need to find "The Next Michael Jordan." It just needed to let the new guys be themselves.
The 2000 season was the start of the Lakers’ three-peat. It was the year the "Jail Blazers" almost took them down. It was the year Kobe Bryant truly arrived as a superstar, even though he only scored 15 in the All-Star game itself.
Honestly, the league hasn't felt that raw in a long time. Now, everything is a bit more polished, a bit more "brand-safe." In 2000, it felt like anything could happen. You had Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett barking at people in an exhibition game. You had Jason Kidd throwing full-court dimes like it was a Rucker Park run.
The Stats Nobody Remembers
While everyone talks about the dunks, the 3-point shootout was actually a bit of a grind. Jeff Hornacek won it, which feels poetic. He was the ultimate "old school" shooter, taking down the young guns like Dirk Nowitzki and Ray Allen. It was the last stand for the specialist before everyone in the league started shooting 10 threes a game.
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Also, the shooting percentages in the main game were wild. The West shot nearly 50% from the field. It wasn't the "no defense" layup line we see in the 2020s. Guys were actually contesting shots. Not playoff-level intensity, sure, but there was a pride involved that seems to have evaporated lately.
How to Relive the 2000 Experience
If you want to actually understand why this weekend mattered, don't just look at the highlights. Do these three things:
- Watch the full 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. Not just Vince’s dunks, but the reactions from the bench. Look at Shaq’s face when he’s holding that massive camcorder. That is pure, unadulterated joy.
- Find the Fourth Quarter Footage. The game actually got close toward the end. Watch how the West used Duncan and Shaq together. It’s a style of basketball that literally doesn't exist anymore in the "pace and space" era.
- Check the Kicks. The 2000 All-Star game was a peak moment for sneaker design. From the Garnett III to the Shox (which Vince wore later that year, though he had the Tai Chis for the dunk contest), the aesthetics of that game shaped the industry for a decade.
The All Star NBA 2000 wasn't just a mid-season break. It was the bridge between the grit of the 90s and the flash of the 2000s. It gave the league its swagger back when it needed it most. If you missed it, you missed the last time the All-Star game felt like the most important thing in the world for 48 hours.
Practical Next Steps for Fans:
- Archival Viewing: Head to the NBA’s official YouTube channel or "NBA League Pass" to watch the remastered 2000 Dunk Contest. It's the only way to appreciate the hang time without 240p pixelation.
- Statistical Deep Dive: Use Basketball-Reference to compare the 1999-2000 All-Star rosters with the 2023-2024 versions. You’ll notice a massive shift in the "Center" position, highlighting how much the "Big Man" role has evolved from the Shaq/Duncan era to the Jokic/Embiid era.
- Sneaker Culture: If you're into the gear, look for the 20th-anniversary re-releases of the AND1 Tai Chi or the Nike Air Flightposite, both of which were staples of that specific All-Star weekend.