National Basketball Association

Miami Heat's top five NBA All-Star weekend performances

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:55 a.m. ET

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NBA All-Star Weekend represents an opportunity to celebrate the game of basketball and to let loose and have some fun amid the everyday drama of a lengthy NBA season.

It allows fans to see the league's superstars and rising young talent play free of defensive assignments and uptight head coaches and display all of their talents, even it is for an exhibition game. Fierce competitors can become teammates for one night and link together for an alley-oop play that brings down the house. Sharpshooters can show off their skills in the 3-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest offers athletic young players the hope of producing the most dazzling and memorable moments of the weekend.

Since their inception in 1988, many Miami Heat players have represented the franchise proudly and have managed to rise above the rest of the best to make their mark in NBA history. Here are five of the greatest.

5. Jason Kapono (ties record in 3-Point Shootout): 2007

The 2006-07 hangover season for the defending champion Heat wasn't exactly as memorable as the preceding year, but Jason Kapono's amazing shooting accuracy was on full display when he tied Mark Price's all-time best score with 24 points to become the 3-Point Shootout champ. He was able to take home the title by knocking down all of his money balls (worth two points) and by making seven straight shots near the end. He would beat that score by one point the following year to repeat as champion, but by then he had already moved on to play for the Toronto Raptors. The Heat are tied with the Bulls all-time with four winners (Glen Rice 1995, Daequan Cook 2009, and James Jones 2011).

4. LeBron James: 2011

In his first All-Star Game representing the Miami Heat, James put on an incredible show to join Michael Jordan with just the second triple-double in NBA All-Star Game history. Finishing with 29 points, 10 assists and a team-high 12 rebounds, James appeared as though he would secure the MVP trophy but Kobe Bryant's 37 points instead led the West to victory.

"I wish the East would have won," Wade said after the game. "Then my teammate with the triple-double would have stole it, but [Bryant] deserved it."

3. Dwyane Wade: 2012

Wade, the fierce competitor and showman that he is, gave it his all in 2012 with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to join James and Jordan as the only players with a triple-double in an All-Star Game. Maybe he was a little too fierce of a competitor, since he accidentally gave Bryant a broken nose and a concussion after a hard foul in the third quarter, a rare occurrence for a game in which tough defense is rarely played. Much like James the previous year, Wade likely would have secured his second MVP award if it wasn't for Kevin Durant leading the West to the victory.

2. Harold Miner (Wins Slam Dunk Contest): 1995

Miner could never live up to the "Baby Jordan" moniker in his brief four-year NBA career, but he did join Jordan as being the only other player to have won the Slam Dunk contest twice when he won it as a rookie in 1993 and by outlasting defending champion Isaiah Rider in 1995. Jason Richardson and Nate Robinson would later join them as repeat champs, but Miner's dunking prowess in the mid-90s gave early Heat fans something to cheer about.

1. Dwyane Wade All-Star MVP: 2010

A record crowd of 108,713 in Dallas witnessed a spectacular performance from Wade where he tallied 28 points, six rebounds, five steals and an All-Star career-high 11 assists. It was his crunch time play to steal the ball from Deron Williams and knock down two key free throws to help win the game that sealed the MVP award. Wade may have been the lone representative of the Heat that year, but he linked up with soon-to-be-future teammates Chris Bosh and James on several highlight-worthy plays that may or may not have helped give rise to the Big 3 era. The three led the East in scoring that year.

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com .