Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook won the NBA All-Star Game MVP honors for the second straight year as the West registered a record-setting 196-173 win over the East. It’s interesting because many people were betting on Kobe Bryant to win the award with the assumption that he’d have a fantastic showing in his final All-Star Game.
Advertisement
Westbrook joined Bob Pettit as the only players in All-Star Game history to win the MVP twice in a row, Pettit winning the honor in 1958 and sharing it with Elgin Baylor in 1959.
Bryant finished with only 10 points, but the standing ovation and ensuing “Kobe” chant that filled the arena as he was subbed out for a final time sent chills down the backs off the millions that were watching.
On Friday the Lakers will be set to play one of the toughest teams in the league, the San Antonio Spurs. With forward Paul George having racked up 41 points – one short of Wilt Chamberlain’s All-Star record – the Warriors’ Draymond Green was part of a double team to prevent further damage.
Kobe Bryant made the biggest stop of his farewell tour on Sunday as he played the last NBA All-Star Game of a remarkable career in which he established himself as arguably the best player of his generation.
His nine three-pointers was an All-Star Game record.
Bryant finished his All-Star career with 290 points – one fewer than LeBron James.
Bryant, who said this would be his final year in National Basketball Association earlier in the season, said: “It’s a thrill to be here in the All-Star game…to share some of the knowledge I learned with the young players here”. “… I used all of my makes last night to beat Steph” Curry in the three-point contest. “I’m just thankful to be able to play the game of basketball and be in a game like this is something I never take for granted”. It wasn’t bad, though, a 10-point, seven-rebound, six-assist outing that included lighter moments. It was about the ripple effect it had on them all, from James to Stephen Curry to Russell Westbrook to Chris Paul and all the rest.
The first All-Star Game outside the USA was the highest-scoring ever, with both teams scoring more than any team had ever managed.
A network source indicated the producers were focused on getting the Bryant reaction shots and were expecting Curry to, as TNT’s play-by-play announcer Marv Albert said while describing the action, “dribble it out”. So it was only fitting that Sunday night’s game would be a memorable experience for the 6-foot-6, 212-pounder.
He exited the game for the last time with 1:06 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The game goes back to the USA next year and, for the first time since 1997, won’t have Bryant, whose 18 All-Star selections are second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He dunked twice and then finished the game by sinking a buzzer-beating shot from near halfcourt to close out his 26-point, six-assist, five-rebound night.
Advertisement
Westbrook told ESPN’s Sage Steele after the game that he was surprised to win the award. “It took every day and really every moment of rehab to get through it. There were a lot of days where I felt like I was down and out, but just stayed with it”.
