The 39th National Basketball Association All-Star Game was held at Houston on February 12, 1989. Karl Malone was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The east was composed of Mark Jackson, Kevin McHale, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Mark Price, Terry Cummings, Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty.
The west was led by the Utah Jazz trio of Karl Malone, John Stockton and Mark Eaton; the Lakers' James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Clyde Drexler, Alex English, Chris Mullin, Akeem Olajuwon, Tom Chambers, Dale Ellis and Kevin Duckworth.[1]
The game set a new NBA All-Star attendance record. Neither Magic Johnson nor Larry Bird played, though both were still active in the NBA. Johnson was selected, but sat out due to injuries and was replaced by Abdul-Jabbar. Though he only scored 4 points, the game ended with Abdul-Jabbar hitting the final shot of the game, a sky hook.
The game featured a rap by rap group Ultramagnetic MCs that named each all-star and each coach. The rap was broadcast immediately before the start of the game.
The coaches were Lenny Wilkens for the East and Pat Riley for the West.