WBL All-Star Game

Last updated
World Basketball League All-Star Game
StatusInactive
FrequencyAnnually
Inaugurated1988
Most recent1991
Organized by World Basketball League

The WBL All-Star Game was an annual basketball event in the United States, organised by the World Basketball League. [1] It was launched in 1988 and lasted until 1991. The event was held annually and consisted of an all-star game, a three-point shoot contest and slam-dunk exhibition.

Contents

Many former NBA players including Mario Elie, Vincent Askew, Fred Cofield, and Craig Neal played in the All-Star Game. The event was televised by the SportsChannel.

History

The first edition took place at the Olympic Saddledome of Calgary in Canada on July 7, 1988, in front of 7,000 spectators. [2] [3] The second edition was held in Las Vegas in front of 10.550 fans on July 12, 1989. [4] The event was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1991 for its fourth and final edition.

List of games

Bold: Team that won the game.

YearDateLocationTeam 1ScoreTeam 2MVPClub
1988July 7 Calgary West 131-120East Flag of the United States.svg Jose Slaughter Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Vancouver Nighthawks
1989July 17 Las Vegas Las Vegas Silver Streaks 144-148WBL All-Stars Flag of the United States.svg Darryl Kennedy [5] Flag of the United States.svg Las Vegas Silver Streaks
1990July 1 Youngstown West 150-123East Flag of the United States.svg Vincent Askew Flag of the United States.svg Memphis Rockers
1991July 10 Halifax South130-120North Flag of the United States.svg Craig Neal Flag of the United States.svg Florida Jades

Three-Point Shoot Contest

YearPlayerTeam
1988 Flag of the United States.svg Chip Engelland Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Calgary 88's
1989 Flag of the United States.svg Chip Engelland (2) Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Calgary 88's
1990 Flag of the United States.svg Fred Cofield Flag of the United States.svg Youngstown Pride
1991 Flag of the United States.svg Fred Cofield (2) Flag of the United States.svg Youngstown Pride

Slam-Dunk champions

YearPlayerTeam
1988 Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Collins Flag of the United States.svg Las Vegas Silver Streaks
1989 Flag of the United States.svg Willie Bland
Flag of the United States.svg Tim Legler [a]
Flag of the United States.svg Youngstown Pride
Flag of the United States.svg Youngstown Pride
1990 [6] Flag of the United States.svg Mario Donaldson [7] Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Saskatchewan Storm
1991 Flag of the United States.svg Milt Newton Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Halifax Windjammers

Topscorers

YearPlayerPointsTeam
1998 Flag of the United States.svg Kalpic28

Notable participants

Former NBA player Chip Engelland was the 3-point contest winner twice. Chip Engelland, Duke Chronicle 1983-02-18.jpg
Former NBA player Chip Engelland was the 3-point contest winner twice.

WBL All-Stars

The league also had an team of All-Stars. At Christmas of 1989 the All-Stars represented the league in an international tournament hosted by Sunair Oostende in Belgium. [8] In July 1990 the All-Stars toured Italy and recorded 5 wins out of 6 games against professional clubs from six Italian cities. [9] [10] Overall in 1990, the All-Star team won tournaments in Holland, the Soviet Union, Finland, France while they were finalists in events in Yugoslavia, Italy and in a European championship. [11] By November 1991, the WBL teams had won around 90 percent of their international matches.

In November 1991, the All-Stars participated in the sixth Merlion Cup in Singapore in a weeklong tournament (against Kiev Stroitel and BC Spartak Leningrad, the Chinese national team, a Canadian all-star team, and teams from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore) reaching the semifinals.

See also

References

  1. "World Basketball League (1988-1992)". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  2. Sports Digest (1988) - upi.com
  3. Semi Pro Hoops Time Tunnel - curtisjphillips.com
  4. It's a Small WORLD (1989) - vault.si.com
  5. Darryl Kennedy - proballers.com
  6. "1990 WBL World Basketball League 3 Point and Slam Dunk contests from Youngstown Ohio - NBA". youtube.com. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  7. Mario Donaldson - asia-basket.com
  8. Darryl Kennedy scored 19 points to lead the WBL all-star team to a 107-102 victory over VEF Riga of the Soviet Union (1989) -latimes.com
  9. World Basketball League Isn’t Coming Up Short (1990) -latimes.com
  10. Peter Micelli, senior basketball center (1990) -latimes.com
  11. In the WBL, There's One Language: HoopsPARA (1991) - latimes.com

Notes

  1. In the 1989 the competition were between duos.