2004 The inaugural MLK Basketball Classic was held in 2004 with four girls high school games featuring eight teams from the 5A Conference. The games were held at Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. Attendance was estimated at 2500 people. Cox7 Sports broadcast the last two games live. The games featured eventual state champion Phoenix St. Mary's (35-0), state-runner-up Phoenix Desert Vista, and state player of the year Sybil Dosty (Salpointe) who later played at Tennessee and Arizona State.

2005 With over 3000 fans in attendance, five boys games representing each region of the 5A Conference participated. Defending state champion Mesa High highlighted the field that also included Deer Valley High School with future NCAA stars Lawrence Hill (Stanford), Christian Polk (UTEP), and Joey Shaw (Nevada). A matchup between Mesa Dobson and Tucson Sahuaro brought together the McConnell family. Sahuaro Coach Dick McConnell (most wins in Arizona basketball history) went up against his son, Rick, as well as grandsons Matt (Metro State - baseball) and Mickey (St. Mary's - basketball) of Mesa Dobson. Cox TV continued to broadcast the final two games live.

2006 Attendance increased to 8500 in year three of the MLK Basketball Classic. The format changed to feature two girls games and three boys games. In the final girls game of the night, Mesa Red Mountain beat defending state champion Phoenix St. Mary's, 55-53. The Knights would later get revenge by winning the state championship game in a rematch of these same two teams. In the boys games, Mesa Mountain View avenged an earlier loss to Phoenix Desert Vista while Phoenix Brophy Prep edged arch-rival Phoenix St. Mary's 79-76 despite 49 points from future Arizona Wildcat and NBA lottery pick Jerryd Bayless (Portland Trail Blazers). Mesa Mountain View went on to win the state title. Future collegians include Marisa Stotler (Boise State), Dymond Simon (Arizona State), Gavin Edwards (UConn), and David Schneider (William and Mary). For the third year in a row, Cox TV broadcast the final two games live. Coverage and exposure of the event increased to an all-time high with an incredible environment throughout the day.

2007 With over 10,000 fans in attendance, USA team members Jerryd Bayless (St. Phoenix Marys/UA) and Kayla Pedersen (Mesa Red Mountain/Stanford) led an all-star cast of performers. The University of Aizona hosted the inaugural Tucson MLK Basketball Classic at McKale Center with 3500 spectators in attendance. Tribune VarsityXtra signed on as a presenting sponsor while Cox TV continued to broadcast two games. "Overtime" was the word of the day as Glendale Cactus and Saguaro (girls) went into overtime at ASU as did the first three games at UA. For the first time, non-5A teams participated in the event as 2A rivals Scottsdale Christian and Chandler Valley Christian played. Mesa Mountain View lost to Phoenix Desert Vista but went on to 'three-peat' as state champions. The Mesa Mountain View girls team beat Mesa Red Mountain but similar to last year, the Mountain Lions then turned the tables and beat the Toros in the state championship.  Along with Bayless and Pedersen, future collegians included Harper Kamp (MV/Cal), Kendall Wallace (MV/UNLV), Justin Wesolowski (MV/Northern Colorado), Brendon Lavendar (MV/UA), Ty Abbott (DV/ASU), Mike Proctor (DV/Northern Colorado), Becca Tobin (Cactus/ASU), Brooke Jackson (MV/MCC), Bonnie Barbee (Red Mountain/Colorado State ) and Rachelle Federico (Tucson Flowing Wells/California).

2008 With five games at ASU and UA, junior college games were added to the schedule with two women's and two men's games at Mesa Community College.  Cox TV broadcast games live from Tucson for the first time as Mesa Mountain View (featuring future Wildcat Brendon Lavendar) played Tucson High. Gilbert Highland won the first girls game and continued on to a state title. Top matchup included Mesa High and state player of the year Aaron Fuller (Iowa) against Pinnacle with ASU recruit Taylor Rhode.

In the five years of the MLK Basketball Classic, there have been 34 high school games (14 girls and 20 boys) featuring 23 girls teams and 31 boys teams. As the MLK Basketball Classic looks to 2009, an impressive line-up of schools are on tap to provide, once again, another fantastic day of high school basketball.