What is McDonald's All-American Game?

The McDonald's All-American Game is an annual high school basketball all-star game for boys and girls in the United States and Canada.

Following the conclusion of the high school basketball season, each team, comprising the best players, competes in a single exhibition game in an East vs West format. The boys' games have been held since 1978, while the girls' began in 2002.

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History of McDonald's All-American Game

McDonald's All-American Game Logo

The first team was chosen in 1977, marking the start of the McDonald's All-American Game. In the All-Star game that year, the All-Americans competed against a team of spectacular high school players from the Washington, D.C. area.

The East versus West McDonald's game structure was introduced with a boys' game the next year. The current girl-game and boy-game doubleheader formats were introduced in 2002 with the addition of a girls' competition.

The most well-known of the American high school basketball All-American teams is the McDonald's All-American Team. A player is immediately recognized as one of the best high school players in the United States or Canada when they're named a McDonald's All-American. Players who compete in this special event often move on to play college basketball.

The fast food restaurant McDonald's sponsors each team. The local Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and its Ronald McDonald House programmes receive the proceeds from the annual games.

In honor of the 35th anniversary of the McDonald's All-American High School Boys Basketball Game, the McDonald's All-American Game produced a list of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All-Americans on January 31, 2012. In honor of the 40th Anniversary, five players were added to the list in 2017. For the 45th anniversary of the game in 2022, another five players were added.

Some of the most notable names on the list feature:

• Magic Johnson
• Isiah Tomas
• Dominique Wilkins
• James Worthy
• Michael Jordan
• Patrick Ewing
• Shaquille O'Neal
• Kevin Garnett
• Paul Pierce
• Kobe Bryant
• LeBron James
• Chris Paul
• Carmelo Anthony
• Kevin Durant
• Dwight Howard
• James Harden
• Kyrie Irving
• Derrick Rose
• Anthony Davis

There is a plethora of NBA superstars and Hall of Famers the McDonald's All-American teams have produced. So getting invited to the All-Star game alone is a big deal for high school basketball players.

Playing in a game where many greats have in the past could make some of them more motivated to play basketball.