The 2016 NBA All-Star Game will be the first held outside the United States. But until Pau Gasol was named as the replacement for injured Bulls teammate Jimmy Butler, it nearly held an even more interesting first distinction: the first NBA All-Star Game with no white players.
Even as the NBA is predominantly black, there has always been at least one white All-Star. European influence in recent years has helped, be it Gasol, his brother Marc or Dirk Nowitzki. Like Pau Gasol this year, these players deserved to be in the game. But they also make for a dramatic contrast from the NBA's very first All-Star showcase, held in Bostin in March 1951.