SAN FRANCISCO – Because Rick Welts had a vision, the NBA All-Star Weekend has become the place to be on everyone’s sports calendar.
Prior to 1984, on the weekend of the NBA All-Star game, there was no Rising Stars Challenge, no Slam Dunk contest, no Skills Challenge and certainly no Three-Point Contest. There were, in fact, no events at all on Friday and Saturday.
“Everybody arrived on Saturday, there would be a dinner banquet on Saturday night — usually with a bad comedian,” Welts said. “We’d show up in the middle of the day the next day and play the All-Star game, and everybody went home.