On Feb. 10, 1991, Charlotte, NC played host to the 41st NBA All-Star Game.
At the time, Charlotte was relatively new to the NBA basketball thing – while Tobacco Road had long been known for its prestigious college hoops, the Charlotte Hornets were in the midst of their third season after joining the league as an expansion team in 1988.
28 years later, Charlotte is again set to host the All-Star Game as the Hornets celebrate 30 years of NBA basketball in the city.
As one would expect, much has changed since the game in 1991, but some things have remained pretty similar to the way they once were.
To put it all in perspective, let's take a look back to how things once were in comparison to how they are now, beginning with those that weren't around the first time…
Quite literally.
Between Team Giannis and Team LeBron, there are 12 players that are under the age of 28, meaning 12 All-Stars weren't born when the game was played in Charlotte the first time. At 22, Ben Simmons is the youngest player in the 2019 All-Star Game – he was born five months after fellow first-timer D'Angelo Russell.
While more than 12 players were under the age of 28 in the 1991 All-Star Game, 24-year-old Hersey Hawkins was the youngest player to participate.
In addition to the players that hadn't been born yet, there are three franchises that had yet to be established at the time of the 1991 All-Star Game.
The NBA expanded to Canada in 1995 when the league welcomed the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. While the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001, Toronto will be represented by All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry in 2019.
One year after the Grizzlies left Canada, professional basketball left Charlotte as the Hornets moved to New Orleans.
It wouldn't be gone for too long.
In 2005, the league grew once again, this time it was the expansion Charlotte Bobcats. The Hornets nickname would return to the city of Charlotte in 2014 and with the name came the history from 1988-2002 – the history of the team that hosted the All-Star Game in 1991.
While Charlotte sent no All-Stars to the game in 1991, Hornets guard Kemba Walker will represent the host city as a starter for Team LeBron.
A note on Walker: His 3.3 made 3-pointers per game make him one of 30 players in the league that make at least 2.3 triples per game.
The significance of that figure? 2.3 was the league average of team's made 3-pointers per game in the 1990-91 season. That same season, the Portland Trail Blazers led the league by making 4.2 threes per game; this year, All-Stars James Harden and Stephen Curry both average 5.1 made 3-pointers per game.
To take it a step further, Harden has knocked down 274 threes by the All-Star break – more than 24 teams made over the course of the entire 1990-91 NBA season.
While the 3-pointer is much more prevalent in today's game, the per-game scoring averages aren't too far off. Past the midway point of the 2018-19 season, the league average is 110.6 points per game, just 4.3 more than the league average of 106.3 in 1990-91.
Michael Jordan was both the league's leading scorer in 1991 (31.5 ppg) and the All-Star Game's leading vote-getter (1,217,429 votes). 28 years later, Jordan is back in the spotlight as the majority owner of the host franchise.
Oh, and this year's uniforms bear his "Jumpman" logo.
Lakers Hall of Fame guard Magic Johnson was one of three Western Conference All-Stars to score a team-high 16 points in 1991; in 2019, he's still with the Lakers as the team's president of basketball operations.
With a 17-point, 22-rebound performance, Sixers forward Charles Barkley earned All-Star Game MVP honours in 1991. Since 2000, Barkley has been a member of the NBA on TNT crew, meaning he'll be on hand for the game's return to Charlotte.
In '91, Barkley's performance led the East to a 116-114 win over the West.
While conference-based teams are no more, it's a safe assumption that there will be more scoring in '19, and few more 3-pointers, too.
The 68th NBA All-Star Game takes place at 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 17 at the Spectrum Center and will air on TSN 1.