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| PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES |
As is almost always the case with the game, little to no defense was played. In combining for 369 points at the Air Canada Centre, the teams broke an All-Star Game record for scoring.
Russell Westbrook, who finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and five assists, became the first player in league history to be named the solo MVP of the game in consecutive years. ( Bob Pettit won in both 1958 and 1959, but shared the award in the latter contest with Elgin Baylor.)
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard won the award despite Indiana Pacers forward Paul George hitting nine triples while posting 41 points, one shy of tying Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game All-Star record, in a losing effort.
Yet the 37-year-old Bryant, who was selected as an All-Star for an 18th time and finished the night with 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds, was the focal point of the evening, with his retirement a couple months away.
Two videos honoring Bryant’s career played on the arena jumbotron before the game, and Los Angeles Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson honored him at half-court before tipoff. Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls great and current Charlotte Hornets owner, said during an in-game television interview that Bryant “goes out the way he wants to go out—he brought a lot of joy to the game.”
Bryant captivated the crowd a couple of times: Once, when he went one-on-one with LeBron James (and missed), and a pair of other times, where he shot jumpers that appeared to be rimming out before somehow finding their way in the basket; much to the amusement of fans in attendance, who gave Bryant an enormous ovation with just over a minute left, as he subbed out of the contest.
“It was fun. I had a blast playing with those guys, laughing and joking with them on the bench,” said Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and four-time All-Star MVP now in his 20th season. “All those things are just fun. I had a great time. I had a great, great time.”
Asked how he’d describe the night and the experience to his children once he got home, he said he wouldn’t have to.
“They’re here. They were sitting right behind the bench, so I was talking to them virtually the whole game. They’ve enjoyed this as much as I have, coming to these arenas,” he said. “They’ve seen me throughout the years get up at 4 in the morning and work out and train, and come home and work out again. So it’s awesome, as a father, for them to be able to see all the hard work and how it pays off.”
The game was a high point in the midst of a rough last few years for Bryant, given that he and the Lakers, after several seasons of dominant, or at least highly competitive, basketball out West, haven’t been in playoff contention. (Bryant, after suffering season-ending injuries in three consecutive years, is currently shooting a career-worst 34.9%, and the Lakers own the Western Conference’s worst record.)
Aside from the game itself, the NBA All-Star weekend itself—the first one held outside the U.S.—was seemingly well-received, despite frigid weather. In particular, Saturday night’s highly competitive dunk contest between finalists Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon drew rave reviews and perhaps injected new interest in an event that had seemingly lost some steam from decades past.
Prior to that, reigning league MVP Stephen Curry and Golden State Warrior teammate Klay Thompson battled each other in the finals of the three-point shooting competition, with Thompson earning the victory over Curry.
With the weekend in the books, attention now turns to whether the Warriors can break the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins in a single season and go on to repeat as champions.
But for one night, and for the last time on the All-Star stage, Bryant was the focus.
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