An important part highlighted in “The Last Dance” showed the Chicago Bulls Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan mentioning age in the 1998 All-Star Game.
In the recent hit 10-part ABC/ESPN/Netflix documentary series highlighting all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 1997-98 title-winning team “The Last Dance”, the 1998 All-Star Game was a particular point of emphasis. Part 5 of The Last Dance spotlighted the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, particularly the budding of the relationship between Jordan and the late and great Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant.
Kobe had a few comments in The Last Dance about how he had some troubles gaining respect and breaking through in the NBA at first when he was so young due to how old a lot of the league’s stars were at the time. And Jordan backed that comment with some of the videos that were shown in the East’s locker room in that year’s All-Star Game.
So in fact who were the oldest and youngest players on that Eastern Conference All-Star Team during the 1997-98 season?
The youngest player on the East team was the former Boston Celtics big man Antoine Walker. At the time, Walker was just 21 years old and made his first of three All-Star appearances during his lengthy career. Walker registered those three NBA All-Star selections to go along with 1995-96 All-Rookie First-Team honors, and winning one title in 2005-06 with the Miami Heat.
Walker played in a team-low 15 minutes in the 1998 All-Star Game. He registered four points, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
Moreover, the oldest player on that East 1998 All-Star Team? The answer to that question is actually Michael. The Bulls legend is now 57 years old, and was 34 years old at the time. But he also played in the most minutes on the floor of that All-Star Game (32 minutes), also winning that game’s MVP. He registered a game-high 23 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.
At the time, a lot of the up and coming talent in the NBA was actually on the Western Conference team. The likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Kobe, Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan, etc. made up a lot of the brightest stars in the NBA of the 2000’s. And they were all on the West’s All-Star squad.
There were a lot of all-time greats playing in that memorable All-Star Game that saw Jordan win the MVP in 1998. It was hosted at the home of the New York Knicks, at Madison Square Garden, and saw Jordan win one of his three All-Star Game MVP awards.