McDonald's All American Game Memories

Practices for the 2016 McDonald’s All-American Game begin on Sunday in Chicago. In preparation for a week of coverage of the top players in the senior class, National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi takes a look back at his personal ten favorite games and moments in McDonald’s All-American history.

The notable players: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Antawn Jamison, Stephon Marbury, Ron Mercer, Paul Pierce.

Why it stands out: This one is an easy call for me for two reason. Number one, it was the first McDonald’s All-American game that I attended in person. No. 2, it was the year that I feel Kevin Garnett and the 1995 team ushered in a new era of high school basketball. Garnett was flying all over the floor making plays, Carter was dunking anything in site while Paul Pierce and Stephon Marbury were showing off their considerable talents. Looking back, it was a preview of basketball the way we know it today where positions don’t matter near as much as versatility and creating mismatches.

The notable players: LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo, J.R. Smith, Josh Smith, Sebastian Telfair.

Why it stands out: The class of 2004 was the next to last class where high school players could go straight to the NBA. A whopping 22 of 24 players named to the game eventually made their way to the NBA and seven of them went to the NBA without attending college.

Everybody knew guys like Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Shaun Livingston, Josh Smith and Sebastian Telfair were likely going straight to the NBA, but it was during McDonald’s week that J.R. Smith showed enough to make the leap. Committed to North Carolina at the time, not many people were thinking of Smith as a serious threat to skip college. However, a ridiculous display of three-point shooting and elite athleticism sealed his fate as a first round pick right out of high school.

The notable players: Michael Beasley, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose.

Why it stands out: In terms of top to bottom talent, the 2007 game is right there with the 2004 game as the best I’ve ever seen. Blake Griffin shined in the dunk contest and everybody else put on an appropriate show during the actual game. 20 of the 24 players named to the team have logged minutes in the NBA and many of them have developed into stars. My single favorite memory from that actually came from Kevin Love, off the court, at media day.

First he trolled every unsuspecting reporter that he could. He would send them to speak with James Anderson -- probably the single quietest kid I have ever covered -- by hyping him up as the most interesting interview ever. Then, Love did a single-man recap/performance of a disagreement that happened the night before between Beasley and Mayo when they disagreed over wagers made during a game of pop-a-shot at the hotel.

Speaking of Mayo, others have passed him in the NBA but his dominance of the closed scrimmage the day before the actual game is one of the most dominant outings I’ve ever seen during a McDonald’s week.

The notable players: Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Josh Childress, Eddy Curry, T.J. Ford, David Lee, Dajuan Wagner, Mo Williams.

Why it stands out: First, the 2001 game stands out to me for some personal reasons. It was around the time I was dipping my toes into the scouting business and my father attended game week with me. Though we weren’t credentialed, we managed to sneak our way into the closed practices and scrimmages and rubbed elbows with more established coaches. Second, the game featured a player I actually coached. In 2000, I coached my high school’s -- Leavenworth (Kans.) High -- entry into a Kansas City area Fall League and my star player, Wayne Simien, made the 2001 McDonald’s team.

As for game week festivities, the highlight was an epic slam dunk contest between current Dallas Maverick David Lee and legendary high school dunker James “Flight” White. Dejaun Wagner must have had at least 300 supporters sitting behind the East bench during the game and this was the week that Kwame Brown basically tricked the NBA into taking him No. 1 because of the way he played in one on one pickup games against guys like Eddy Curry and David Harrison after practices. It’s also notable that Tyson Chandler is the only player I can remember being named to the team who chose to skip out on McDonald’s week to protect his draft status.

The notable players: Brandon Bass, Aaron Brooks, Luol Deng, Kris Humphries, LeBron James, Travis Outlaw, Chris Paul, Kendrick Perkins.

Why it stands out: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend this game personally. However, like the rest of America I watched in awe as LeBron James gave us a look at the superstar NBA talent that he was about to become.

Chris Paul and Luol Deng certainly had some nice moments but it was the presence of James that saved a class that was pretty mediocre. Playing in front of a home crowd, James was sensational attacking the rim, getting out in transition and making plays for others.

The notable players: Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin.

Why it stands out: OK, so I was five years old when this game was played and didn’t care a thing about basketball at that age. But, I couldn’t go without making mention of a game that featured as impressive a trio as Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin and the GOAT, Michael Jordan.

There are all kinds of stories about how Michael Jordan was an under the radar and under-appreciated high school player, but not many of them are based in reality. Not only was Jordan a McDonald’s All-American, he was named MVP and set a game scoring record of 30 that stood until it was broken by Jonhathan Bender (31) in 1999.

The notable players: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Todd Day, LaPhonso Ellis, Shawn Kemp, Christian Laettner, Alonzo Mourning, Billy Owens, Malik Sealy.

Why it stands out: This one stands out because it was the first time I ever got to see my all-time favorite player, Shawn Kemp. Kemp’s athleticism, ability to go from one end to another and the style with which he played the game were way ahead of his time.

In my opinion, Kemp produced the single greatest highlight in McDonald’s All-American history when he took a rebound coast to coast and took off from a few feet inside the free throw line for a soaring two handed jam. The dunk produced one of the most incredible Dick Vitale reactions ever.

The notable players: D.J. Augustin, Mike Conley, Kevin Durant, Spencer Hawes, Tywon Lawson, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Greg Oden.

Why it stands out: The class of 2006 is the class that ushered in the “one and done” era of college basketball and it was led by Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. In total, 14 players from the 2006 game are still active in the NBA.

Heading into game week, Greg Oden was considered the clear choice as the No. 1 prospect in the country. However, the play of Kevin Durant was so special that people had to think long and hard about whether or not he might be the best player. Obviously, injuries kept us from ever seeing what kind of player Oden could be, but Durant’s performance was certainly a glimpse of future greatness.

The notable players: Devin Booker, Stanley Johnson, Emmanuel Mudiay, Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns, Myles Turner, Justise Winslow.

Why it stands out: Before it is all said and done, the class of 2014 is looking like it will go down as a terrific class. At the time it wasn’t as celebrated as a very good 2013 class (and certainly didn’t get the publicity of 2004 or 2007) but it is holding its own after producing 13 first round draft picks in 2015.

As good as the class is going to be, there is a good chance that nobody from the class is going to be better than Karl-Anthony Towns. While Towns had certainly shown signs of greatness during his high school career, he had also disappeared at times during matchups with other highly regarded big men. At McDonald’s, though, Towns was awesome. He was borderline dominant in almost any matchup he had and his performance vaulted him into everybody’s top five and gave a good look at what the future held for him as a player.

The notable players: Keith Booth, Cedric Henderson, Randy Livingston, Jeff McInnis, Charles O’Bannon, Jerry Stackhouse, Jacque Vaughn, Rasheed Wallace.

Why it stands out: Looking back at the overall roster for the 1993 game, it wasn’t the best McDonald’s game ever. But it’s another that holds some personal meaning to me because it was my graduating class. The guys in this game are my contemporaries and because of that I followed all of them closely.

Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse both went on to have very good NBA careers and Randy Livingston is one of the best players that people never really got to see because of his knee injuries. Jeff McInnis is now very involved on the grassroots basketball circuit and his Team Charlotte squad won Under Armour’s Association circuit last summer.