With players such as Memphis' Pau Gasol (Spain) and San Antonio's Tony Parker (France) making their first All-Star game appearances, the game is being televised in 44 languages. More than 300 international media members were scheduled to be in Houston for the weekend festivities, included the 3-point and dunk contests on Saturday.
Billups, Hamilton and Toronto's Chris Bosh are the other first-time All-Stars. Bryant and Iverson both said the first selection was their highlight, though Iverson acknowledged that his seventh selection was meaningful, too.
"The first appearance is always going to be the most memorable," Iverson said. "This one is special because I'm 30 years old and you hear all the negative things about your game declining and at this point you should be breaking down. I still go out and play hard every night and give it my all. I guess the fans recognize that because they put me in the All-Star game."
Bryant and Tim Duncan are back for the eighth time, while Kevin Garnett is making his ninth appearance. Shaquille O'Neal is an All-Star for the 13th consecutive time, one behind the record held by Jerry West and Karl Malone.
Andre Iguodala scored 30 points, mostly on dunks, in leading the second-year players over the rookies 106-96 in the NBA Rookie Challenge on Friday.
The Philadelphia swingman is one of the four players in Saturday night's slam dunk contest, and he had a chance to show his leaping skills a day early. All three of his first-half field goals were dunks, then he helped the second-year players break open the game early in the second half with a few more.
He even added four 3-pointers and shot 13-of-17 from the field to win MVP honors.
Ben Gordon added 17 points.
Rockets guard Luther Head and Toronto's Charlie Villanueva each scored 18 points for the rookies. Chris Paul, the likely rookie of the year, had 11 assists and five steals but scored only eight points.
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