The McDonald's All-American Game is an American

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basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

game played each year for boys' and girls'

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the high-school basketball season, in an East vs. West format. As part of the annual event, boys and girls compete in a

slam dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as a dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with on ...

contest and a three-point shooting competition, and compete alongside All-American Game alumni in a timed team shootout. The last of these competitions replaced separate overall timed skills competitions for boys and girls. While it is rare for girls to compete in the slam dunk contest, occasionally a girl will elect to participate. The contest has been won by a girl three times: Candace Parker won in 2004, Fran Belibi in 2019, and most recently in 2022 by Ashlyn Watkins. The boys' game has been played annually since 1978, while the girls' annual game wasn't added until 2002. The McDonald's All-American designation began in 1977 with the selection of the inaugural team. That year, the All-Americans played in the McDonald's Capital Classic all-star game against a group of high school stars from the Washington, D.C. area. The following year, the McDonald's All American Game began with a boys contest between the East and West squads. In 2002, with the addition of a girls contest, the current girl-game / boy-game doubleheader format began. The McDonald's All-American Team is the best-known of the American high-school basketball All-American teams. Designation as a McDonald's All-American instantly brands a player as one of the top high-school players in the United States. Selected athletes often go on to compete in

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

. All but four of the teams to win the NCAA men's championship since 1978 have had at least one McDonald's All-American on their rosters. The exceptions are the 2002 Maryland Terrapins, the 2014 UConn Huskies, the 2021 Baylor Bears, and the 2023 UConn Huskies. The 2023 Final Four was the first in which no McDonald's All-Americans participated. The teams are sponsored by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

. Proceeds from the annual games go to local Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and their Ronald McDonald House programs.

Greatest Boys McDonald's All-Americans

On January 31, 2012, McDonald's All-American Games unveiled its list of 35 of the Greatest McDonald's All-Americans, released in celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the McDonald's All-American High School Boys Basketball Game. In 2017, five players were added to the list in celebration of the 40th Anniversary. Another five players were added in 2022 to celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the game. The Greatest Boys McDonald's All-Americans list includes some of the top names in men's basketball history, and features past and present Olympics, NBA and NCAA stars. The players were selected by members of the McDonald's All-American Games Selection Committee. In determining the list, all past McDonald's All-Americans were considered based on their high school careers and performances in the McDonald's All-American Games, success at the collegiate and professional level, and post-career accomplishments. The full list of players includes:

Annual game results

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

/MOP award is presented each year to the most outstanding boy and girl players. The award is officially called the John R. Wooden Most Valuable Player Award.

Boys

Denotes All-Star Games in which joint winners were named

Girls

;Notes

Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year

Prior to each game since 1997 (Boys)/2002 (Girls), a national player of the year has been chosen from the field of McDonald's All-Americans based on activity in the community, classroom and on the court. The award is named in honor of high school coach Morgan Wootten, one of the founders of the McDonald's game.

Past winners

;Boys * 1997: Shane Battier * 1998: Ronald Curry * 1999: Jonathan Bender * 2000: Chris Duhon * 2001: Aaron Miles * 2002: Torin Francis * 2003:

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

* 2004: Dwight Howard * 2005: Josh McRoberts * 2006: Greg Oden * 2007: Kevin Love * 2008: Greg Monroe * 2009: Derrick Favors * 2010: Harrison Barnes * 2011: Austin Rivers * 2012: Shabazz Muhammad * 2013: Jabari Parker * 2014: Jahlil Okafor * 2015: Ben Simmons * 2016: Lonzo Ball * 2017: Wendell Carter Jr. * 2018: RJ Barrett * 2019: James Wiseman * 2020: Evan Mobley * 2021: Chet Holmgren * 2022: Dereck Lively II * 2023: Isaiah Collier * 2024: Dylan Harper * 2025: Cameron Boozer ;Girls * 2002: Nicole Wolff * 2003: Ivory Latta * 2004: Candace Parker * 2005: Abby Waner * 2006: Tina Charles * 2007:

Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American social justice advocate and former professional basketball player. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the "greatest winner in the hist ...

* 2008: Elena Delle Donne * 2009: Kelsey Bone * 2010:

Chiney Ogwumike Chinenye Joy "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2020, she became the first black woman and th ...

* 2011: Elizabeth Williams * 2012: Breanna Stewart * 2013: Taya Reimer * 2014: Ariel Atkins * 2015: Katie Lou Samuelson * 2016: Crystal Dangerfield * 2017: Evina Westbrook * 2018: Christyn Williams * 2019: Haley Jones * 2020: Paige Bueckers * 2021: Azzi Fudd * 2022: Kiki Rice * 2023: Mikaylah Williams * 2024: Joyce Edwards * 2025: Sienna Betts

Sprite/Powerade Jam Fest Award Winners

The slam dunk contest was first held as an unofficial event in 1985, and became an official part of the festivities in 1987. The three-point contest was first held for boys in 1989, with a girls' competition added alongside the inaugural girls' game in 2002. The skills contest was added for both boys and girls in 2002, with separate events held for both sexes through 2015. In 2016, the skills contest was discontinued and replaced with a "Legends & Stars Shootout", involving teams consisting of one boy, one girl, and one All-American Game alumnus of either sex. Within each individual entry of Legends & Stars Shootout winners, the teams are listed in the aforementioned order. The Shootout is a timed competition in which each team must make a layup, free throw, three-pointer, and halfcourt shot in that order. :''Note: The only female winners of the slam dunk contest are Candace Parker, Fran Belibi, and Ashlyn Watkins who respectively won in 2004, 2019, and 2022.''

References

External links

*
McDonald's Boys All American Teams
at Basketball-Reference.com {{McDonald's High school basketball games in the United States

Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

Recurring sporting events established in 1977 1977 establishments in the United States