SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) – On Sunday, Feb. 19, Salt Lake City will host the 2023 NBA All-Star game, pitting the best basketball players against each other at the Vivint Arena. The last time Salt Lake City was the stage for the greatest basketball talent was on Feb. 21 in 1993, and a lot has changed in those 30 years.

Browsing through a newspaper released on the day of the ’93 All-Star game reveals how different the world was in 1993 compared to today.

The hottest movie was Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day, while Home Alone 2 still had a grip on theatres. Catching the matinees was ideal to save some money as one theater advertised $1 tickets. Primetime showings would cost a pretty penny for moviegoers in 1993 though, as prices would rise to an outstanding $1.50.

Today, Avatar: The Way of Water is at the top of theatres but that matinee ticket is going to cost you about $6 for a standard seat and $12 if you go in the primetime.

Housing was a completely different story in 1993.

One housing listing was selling a “totally remodeled” four-bedroom, three-bath house near Cottonwood for $130,000. A quick look at Zillow, shows houses in the area with at least the same amount of bedrooms and bathrooms go for as low as $590,000 but could reach as high as $4.2 million.

Salt Lake City’s skyline was also much smaller 30 years ago.

According to Skyscraper Center, the LDS Office Building, completed in 1973, was Salt Lake City’s tallest building standing at 420 feet. The next tallest was the Key Bank Tower, completed in 1976 standing at 351 feet. Familiar buildings like the Wells Fargo Center, which is the current tallest building standing at 422 feet, weren’t completed until 1998.

On the Utah Jazz and NBA front, stars Karl Malone and John Stockton were getting ready to play that night in the All-Star Game at the Delta Center. Much like how Lauri Markkanen is doing so today, only now the arena is referred to as the Vivint Arena (though not for long).

The 1993 newspaper even contains an article saying Malone and Stockton were worried more about winning the game as opposed to earning any individual glory. The two did end up winning the game for Team West in overtime, 135-132. They got their individual glory as well, being named co-MVPs.

Could Markkanen repeat the performance and help Team Lebron claim victory against Team Giannis on Sunday? Perhaps the Jazz forward could mirror Malone’s and Stockton’s 1993 success by earning the MVP accolade.

Either way, there is no denying Salt Lake City has evolved a lot over the last 30 years.