Today in Sports History: 1964 NBA All Star Game in Boston

Today in Sports History: 

On January 14, 1964 the NBA held just their 14th annual NBA All Star Game live from the Boston Garden, it would be a game and a night that many NBA fans would never forget.

While an All Star Game in 1964 might not seem like an important event in 2015 it actually is very important to the product we see today, if it weren’t for some of the All Stars set to play in that game we may never have had a NBA All Star Game.

For years NBA owners had failed to recognize the NBA Players and their union, they failed to give them some of the rights that today’s stars are used too. Players were looking for the owners to give them a pension after they had finished their careers in the NBA, other concerns included meal money, schedule arraignments (not having back-to-back games, in particular matinees after a night game), and full-time trainers.

The NBA Players were also looking to be recognized as a unit by the owners because up until 1964 they were not viewed as anything more than independent stars who was owned by whomever they played for. So after multiple failed negations with the owners the players had enough and were looking to show unity and defiance against the owners. They saw no better opportunity to do that then by boycotting the 1964 NBA All Star Game.

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That year’s All Star Game was of particular importance because this would be the first nationally televised NBA All Star Game where families across the country could watch NBA stars like Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell. But together the NBA players saw this opportunity and took full advantage of it, declaring that they would not participate in the game unless the owners met their demands.

It took NBA Commissioner James Kennedy and the rest of the owners up until tip-off until they finally seceded to the NBA Players demands. According to several stories told by players and media personnel who were there, Kennedy barged into the locker room of the NBA Players and told them they would have a legitimate seat at the bargaining table and the owners would take full consideration into their concerns. They would only do so if the players went out and played the All Star Game. After a few moments of deliberation the players accepted the deal and went on to the floor.

The actual game itself was exciting to watch, the East was coached by Celtics great Red Auerbach while the West was coached by Los Angeles Lakers coach Fred Schaus. Oscar Robertson lead all scorers with 26 points for the East as they captured the 111-107 win, Chamberlain and Bob Pettit lead the West scorers with 19 points.

The three Celtics that played for the East, Bill Russell, Sam Jones, and Tommy Heinsohn combined for 39 points in front of over 13,000 hometown fans.