Abdul-Jabbar Will Set Another Record in All-Star Game

It will be a record-setting afternoon for the National Basketball Assn. today when the Western Conference faces the Eastern Conference at the 35th All-Star Game.

Los Angeles Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be making a record 14th All-Star appearance when he starts for the West, which has lost five straight games, the longest streak in All-Star history. More than 38,000 fans are expected for the game in the Hoosier Dome, which would break the record All-Star attendance of 31,745 at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1979.

Before this season, Abdul-Jabbar shared the mark of 13 appearances with Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy and John Havlicek. In the 11 years that the NBA has allowed fans to vote for the starting teams, Abdul-Jabbar has amassed more than 3 million ballots.

“It’s a compliment they pay you in appreciation of what you’ve given to the game,” he said. “It’s always nice to be paid that kind of compliment, because these are the people we perform for.

“Anytime you do something no one else has done, it’s something to be proud of.”

Although he is setting a record for most appearances, Abdul-Jabbar is not the oldest player ever to be an All-Star. On Sunday, Abdul-Jabbar will be two months and six days short of his 38th birthday, three days younger than Havlicek when he appeared in the 1978 All-Star game in Atlanta.

“I’ve been through a couple of eras,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “It’s very interesting the number of years I’ve been an All-Star. They are all like blurs. I’ve always dealt with them one at a time.”

“He’s the most unique athlete anyone put on the face of the earth,” said Laker Coach Pat Riley, who will coach the West against K.C. Jones, coach of the Boston Celtics. “To continue to do what he’s doing, in the most demanding of sports, is unbelievable.”

Abdul-Jabbar is joined in the West starting lineup by forwards Ralph Sampson of the Houston Rockets and Adrian Dantley of the Utah Jazz and guards George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs and Earvin (Magic) Johnson of the Lakers.

The East starters are center Moses Malone of the Philadelphia 76ers, forwards Julius Erving of the 76ers and Larry Bird of the Celtics and guards Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons and rookie Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls.

Erving, like Abdul-Jabbar, will be making his 14th pro appearance in an All-Star game. His first five games were in the American Basketball Assn.

Erving and Gervin both have been All-Stars for all nine of their years in the NBA, and Gervin played in three ABA All-Star games.

East reserves are forwards Bernard King of New York and Terry Cummings of Milwaukee; centers Robert Parish of Boston and Bill Laimbeer of Detroit, and guards Sidney Moncrief of Milwaukee, Dennis Johnson of Boston and Micheal Ray Richardson of New Jersey. Laimbeer is subbing for Jeff Ruland of Washington, out with a strained right shoulder.

West subs are forwards Larry Nance of Phoenix and Alex English and Calvin Natt, both of Denver; centers Jack Sikma of Seattle and rookie Akeem Olajuwon of Houston, and guards Rolando Blackman of Dallas and Norm Nixon of the Clippers.

In addition to Olajuwon and Jordan, others making their first All-Star appearances will be Natt, Nance, Blackman and Cummings.

Nance was will to defend his title in the NBA Slam-Dunk competition, held Saturday along with an old-timers game. Nance and Erving, the 1984 runner-up, have a bye into the slam-dunk semifinals.

They will face the two top scorers from the first round featuring Jordan, Clyde Drexler of Portland, Darrell Griffith of Utah, Terence Stansbury of Indiana, Dominique Wilkins of Atlanta and Orlando Woolridge of Chicago.

“I’ve tried to play the best I could this year and now I’m on the All-Star team and it gives me a great feeling,” Nance said. “I’m not going just for the slam-dunk contest this year. I’ve got something else to look forward to. The slam-dunk contest is for fun. I don’t think there’ll be a whole lot of pressure on me to win.”