The East team gained the lead in the first two quarters helped by Dajuan Wagner (who scored a total of 25 points, 11 in the first half), Chris Thomas and Julius Hodge.
Things changed in the second half, when Eddy Curry, Kelvin Torbert and Daniel Ewing led the West to a comeback.
Other players who starred were Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler, who, like Curry, after the good performance decided to skip college and declare for the NBA draft; T. J. Ford, who recorded 11 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists; and David Lee.
An unprecedented number of players declared their eligibility for the 2001 NBA draft: 5 McDonald's All-Americans chose to go straight to professional basketball.
The others were Tyson Chandler (2nd overall), game MVP Eddy Curry (4th overall), DeSagana Diop (8th overall) and Ousmane Cisse (46th overall pick, never played in the NBA).