Jordan Brand Classic

The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school all star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys and girls in the senior class. In 2015, a girl's game was introduced.

The game takes its name from the chief organizer, Jordan Brand, a division of Nike named after Michael Jordan. The 22 players are routinely selected from the top 100 players as ranked by numerous scouting services.

Jordan Brand previously sponsored the Capital Classic in the Washington, D.C. area, from 2002 to 2004, when it was known as the Jordan Brand Capital Classic. After Michael Jordan was unable to move the game to New York, he started the Jordan Brand Classic.

The 2002 Jordan Capital Classic was played at Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center with many players who went on to play in the NBA. The White Jerseys, led by coach Steve Smith of Oak Hill Academy, had Co-MVP's Sean May (Sacramento Kings) and Amar'e Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns) contribute 49 points and 27 rebounds to their victory. In fact, nine of the 12 White Team players scored in double-figures, including Rashad McCants (Minnesota Timberwolves) who went 10-13 from the field for 23 points. For the Red Team, fans saw former Oak Hill teammates Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks) and Justin Gray (Wake Forest) score 27 and 17 points respectively. Over the next four years, this class would include representation on three National Champions (Anthony, McCants, May and Denham Brown) and numerous NBA lottery picks.

The 2003 Jordan Brand Capital Classic was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,424 fans at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. The game gave a glimpse at many future NBA players from the start, but the second half belonged to Co-MVP Shannon Brown (Los Angeles Lakers) as he led the Silver Jerseys with 27 points and eight assists. His teammate Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers) added 18 points and five assists to go along with a solid defensive effort. Co-MVP LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) finished the game with 34 points and 12 rebounds for the Black Jerseys. Linas Kleiza (Europe) scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds and Kris Humphries (Boston Celtics) contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Black Jerseys. The Silver Jerseys outscored their opponents by nine in the second half to prevail 107–102. The event also included musical performances by Bow Wow and Ludacris.

This was the last year that Jordan Brand was the title sponsor of the Capital Classic. The Black Jerseys won with the contribution of the year's No. 1 NBA Draft pick as they defeated the White Jerseys by a score of 107–96 at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland. The Black Jerseys, which took the lead at the beginning of the game and never looked back, were led by Dwight Howard (Los Angeles Lakers) of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He was voted the game's MVP with 18 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks. Dorell Wright (Miami Heat) had 24 points and seven rebounds for the White Jerseys in a losing cause. Complementing Howard's dominating performance were Malik Hairston (San Antonio Spurs) who chipped in 23 points and Robert Vaden (Indiana) who added 21 points to lead the Black Jerseys to the win. Al Jefferson (Charlotte Hornets) had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo (Chicago Bulls) scored 12 points and recorded five assists in the losing effort for the White Jerseys. The Class of 2004 included a number of others who starred during the 2006 NCAA season including National Champion Corey Brewer (Florida), Jordan Farmar (UCLA), Daniel Gibson (Texas), LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas) and Rudy Gay (Connecticut).

A new home was chosen for the Jordan All-American Classic as the event took center stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City before a crowd that included the likes of Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, Terrell Owens, Vince Carter and a special performance by Fat Joe. In the last year before the NBA restricted players from leaving directly for the NBA, a quarter of the 2005 Jordan All-Americans went from this game directly to the professional ranks. One of those NBA draft picks, Andray Blatche (Washington Wizards), finished off his high school career with a Co-MVP performance of 26 points on 12–17 shooting with 16 rebounds to lead the White Jerseys. Sharing the award was Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) who helped his Gray Jerseys to a last-minute 127–126 win with 24 points and nine rebounds. Joining Blatche making the leap to the NBA included C.J. Miles (Utah Jazz), Louis Williams (Philadelphia 76ers), Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers), and Martell Webster (Portland Trail Blazers).

For the second consecutive year the Jordan Classic was played in New York City at the Madison Square Garden. 10,000 plus people were in attendance. Georgia Tech-bound Thaddeus Young earned co-Most Valuable Player honors as he finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead the White Jerseys to the 108–95 victory over the Black Jerseys. Young was joined by co-MVP Kevin Durant (Texas) who had 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. The event was attended by Michael Jordan, LL Cool J, Warren Sapp, Floyd Mayweather, Ahmad Rashad, Al Harrington, Rudy Gay, Fabolous, and Vince Carter. Atlanta-based rapper T.I., who starred in the movie ‘ATL’ and had the No.1 album ‘King’, performed prior to the All-American game. Young helped the White Jerseys take a seven-point first-half lead in a game that was close from the start. His 28 points was the second-highest all-time scoring total behind 34 points from LeBron James in 2003 and Young's 13 rebounds were the fourth-highest mark in game history as well. Another standout performer for the White Jerseys was Sherron Collins (Kansas) with 14 points and six assists. For the Black Jerseys, Durant was joined by the Syracuse recruit tandem of Paul Harris and Mike Jones who each chipped in 16 points. Brandan Wright (North Carolina), Wayne Ellington (North Carolina), Edgar Sosa (Louisville) and DeShawn Sims (Michigan) also each finished in double-figures.