NBA All-Star Weekend, which has been given the moniker of "Black Thanksgiving" by one prominent hack, can better be known as the bright spot among professional sports celebrations. Where else can you get some bad disco, a 5'7 guy winning a dunk contest, a fat former player racing an elderly official and then locking lips, and some tall skinny white dude proclaiming the "Birdman" is going to fly.

It's the best All-Star Weekend in sports, and here's 12 of the many unpredictable reasons why: good, bad or ugly:

Sit back and do something nice for yourself by watching this 1973 All-Star intro complete with Wilt the Stilt and some disco goodness (which could easily be confused with badness).


It hasn't gotten a whole lot better than the Michael Jordan vs Dominique Wilkins showdown in the 1988 Dunk Contest. The dunk contest 'Nique would have won if it wasn't in MJ's house.


But before Michael and Dominique had their memorable duel, Wilkins had to face off with his teammate. His 5'7 with tall shoes teammate, Spud Webb. Webb's 1986 Slam Dunk Title was a victory for all those who were last in line when they were handing out height.


Larry Bird with his finger raised winning the 1988 3-Point Contest.  He famously walked into the locker room at Chicago Stadium to "find out who was going to finish 2nd."


In my opinion, the best moment in All-Star game history was Magic Johnson's one-on-one showdown with Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas at the end of the 1992 game.  Hollywood couldn't have written a better script for Magic's departure from the NBA court.


Shaquille O'Neal impressed himself and his Eastern Conference teammates in 1996 with an emphatic dunk on David Robinson. Might seem like a run of the mill dunk now, but you'd be forgetting how much they despised each other. Anytime you can get San Antonio fans to boo, you've done something tremendous.


The video quality is sub-par, but the Tracy McGrady pass to himself off the backboard was not. To be copied by many others from this point forward. One of those plays that makes you want to pay attention to subsequent All-Star games despite the usual lulls.


Jason Richardson's 2004 Dunk. If he was a regular All-Star this would be considered the best dunk of all-time.


If it wasn't J-Rich's dunk that did it for you, then it's certainly Vince Carter in 2000. Vinsanity brought the dunk contest back to life and built the bridge to Richardson.


Shaq vs Lebron vs Dwight Howard dance off. No other words are needed ... just watch.


Dick Bavetta and Charles Barkley racing ... and kissing. Memorable, even if you'd rather it not be.


Last, and definitely least, the Birdman tries to fly. In case you were wondering, this qualified as the ugly for various reasons.


Enjoy. Who knows what will happen this weekend.