Who opted out due to injury The 1997 NBA All-Star Game, who currently serves as a color commentator for Houston Rockets home games?
1997 NBA All-Star Game The 1997 NBA All-Star Game was the 47th edition of the All-Star Game and commemorated the 50th anniversary of NBA. The game was played on February 9, 1997, at Gund Arena (now known as Quicken Loans Arena) in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The winner of the MVP award was Glen Rice of the Charlotte Hornets who played 25 minutes and scored 26 points while breaking two records in the process, 20 points in the third quarter and 24 points in the second half. Rice's 20 points in the period broke Hal Greer's record (19), set in 1968. Rice's 24 points in a half surpassed the previous mark of 23, owned by Wilt Chamberlain and Tom Chambers. Michael Jordan's 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists were the first and, until the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, the only triple-double in NBA All-Star Game history (LeBron James (2011), Dwyane Wade (2012), and Kevin Durant (2017) have also achieved this). Five players (Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Shaquille O’Neal) who were voted or selected for the team opted out due to injury, opening the doors for the annually neglected and the new stars—Joe Dumars, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Webber, Chris Gatling and 20-year-old second-year man Kevin Garnett took their spots.
1996–97 Philadelphia 76ers season The 1996–97 NBA season was the 76ers 48th season in the National Basketball Association, and 34th season in Philadelphia. After two seasons at Georgetown, point guard Allen Iverson was selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996 NBA draft. Iverson quickly established himself as one of the premier point guards in the NBA averaging 23.5 points per game. He was named 1997 Rookie of the Year and was a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. During the offseason, the Sixers acquired Don MacLean from the Denver Nuggets and signed free agents Mark Davis, Lucious Harris and Michael Cage. The Sixers played around .500 in November with a 7–8 start to the season. However, they struggled and lost 23 of their next 24 games, including 11 and 13-game losing streaks posted respectively. The Sixers lost ten of their final eleven games, and finished sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 22–60 record.