By Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Feb 13, 2007 at 1:55 PM

Happy anniversary, Milwaukee!

As megastars from basketball, hip-hop and Hollywood get ready to invade Las Vegas for what promises to be the glitziest All-Star Weekend ever, we'd like to point out that it was 30 years ago today -- Feb. 13, 1977 -- when Milwaukee hosted its first and only NBA All-Star Game.

Back then, the event was more of a no-frills exhibition than a study in corporate and celebrity excess. But, the 1977 game was notable for a number of reasons even though it did not feature any Bucks players.

For starters, it was the first All-Star Game after the merger between the NBA and the American Basketball Association. One of the "imports" from the ABA, Philadelphia's Julius Erving, scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to grab MVP honors even though his team lost, 125-124. Erving was one of several future Hall of Famers in the game, which featured Bob McAdoo, Pete Maravich, John Havlicek, Earl Monroe, Elvin Hayes, George Gervin, Dave Cowens, David Thompson, Dan Issel, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who was with the Lakers), Rick Barry, Bob Lanier, Maurice Lucas and Bill Walton.

Paul Westphal of the Phoenix Suns was the hero for the West, making two baskets and coming up with a steal in the closing minutes.

While we lament the fact that Milwaukee will likely never host another NBA All-Star Game, and that the franchise could be in danger if a solution to the Bradley Center situation isn't addressed, you can check out the box score from the game by following the link below.

Drew Olson Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.