STARS WEREN'T JUST ON COURT.

Byline: Ken Berger Associated Press

Basketball and Broadway came together, and the stars showed up, big-time. Madonna and Muhammad Ali. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. The film maker known as Spike Lee.

Did anyone expect an All-Star game in New York to be anything but big and gaudy and loaded with celebrities?

Even Jack Nicholson, a regular at Lakers games, made the trip to Madison Square Garden Sunday night.

There were supermodels Elle MacPherson and Tyra Banks; actors Leonardo DiCaprio of ``Titanic,'' husband and wife Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker and Bill Murray; baseball players Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees and Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners; basketball greats Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving.

Tennis great and Queens native John McEnroe was behind the East bench. Ali was behind the West, with Donald Trump in between. The Artist strolled in moments before tipoff with a sparkling suit, his customary scepter and a gold covering on his left ear (a Mike Tyson protector?).

Tyson and his entourage made an appearance at halftime. The boxer, who lives in Ohio, was making his second straight All-Star appearance. He attended last year's game in Cleveland.

That game featured the unprecedented gathering of the NBA's 50 greatest players, one of the most impressive meetings of athletic talent in history.

New York played its favorite old game of ``Can you top this?'' and just might have.

Spike's seat: The best seats in the house were anywhere near Spike Lee. The Madison Square Garden regular had quite a give-and-take going with some of the All-Stars.

It was funny to see Lee, a rabid Knicks fan, rooting for Michael Jordan. When His Airness got the ball in position to score, Lee shouted, ``Take him Mike! Back him in.''

Another Knicks nemesis, Reggie Miller of Indiana, stared right at Lee after drilling a 3-pointer. It was reminiscent of the 1995 playoffs, when Miller mocked Lee by making trash-talking's sign language for ``choke'' during a Pacers victory. Maybe Miller didn't hear Lee yelling, ``Take him Reg, take him,'' a few minutes earlier.

When Miami's Tim Hardaway hit two straight 3-pointers in the first quarter, Lee said, ``Don't get too happy, Tim.''

``Shhhhh,'' Hardaway responded.

Michael's prediction: Michael Jordan was way off on his prediction for All-Star MVP. He should have guessed himself.

As he dressed for what might be his last All-Star game, Jordan was asked who would win the award.

``If the East wins, hmmm, that's tough,'' Jordan said, taking a long pause. ``I guess I'd like one of the older guys, maybe Reggie Miller.''

And if the West?

``David Robinson,'' Jordan said, without hesitation.

Mitch and Eddie: Sacramento's Mitch Richmond, who had eight points, said he and coach Eddie Jordan have made up.

``We sat down and talked because one thing we couldn't do is lose our friendship,'' said Richmond, who now blames Kings management for trying to cause a rift between the All-Star and his coach.

``What happened was, he was put in the middle of a situation,'' Richmond said.

Trade rumors follow Richmond wherever he goes.

``Right now I'm not thinking about it,'' Richmond said.

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PHOTO Muhammed Ali, with son Asaad, was just one of many stars who turned out Sunday.

Associated Press