A Game and a Tribute
According to fans of the NBA, this past All-Star game was one of the best to date. The showdown between Team Giannis and Team LeBron ended in a 157-155 Team LeBron win. As the score would make you believe, the game was electrifying.
The Sunday night tradition of the All-Star Game wasn’t the only thing that caught the attention of people throughout the weekend. The highlights of the weekend in Chicago consisted of a controversial dunk contest, exciting skills challenges and a heartfelt tribute to the late Kobe Bryant.
Specifically, the fourth quarter was a tribute to Bryant. The NBA decided to make the last quarter of play untimed and instead with a target score that the teams had to hit. The target score was determined by adding 24 points (Kobe’s jersey number) to whatever the leading team’s score was at the end of the third quarter. In this case, the magic number was 157.
Also, to honor Kobe and his daughter Gianna who also died in the helicopter crash, all players on LeBron’s team wore #2 which was Gianna’s number and players on Team Giannis wore #24 which was Kobe’s number.
The Kobe tributes did not stop there. The NBA renamed the All-Star MVP trophy the “NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award“. This is a tribute to remember all of the great precedents that Bryant set throughout his time in the NBA and while playing in All-Star games. For this year’s game, this award was given to Kawhi Leonard who had 30 points throughout the game. After winning the award, Leonard said, “I want to thank Kobe for everything he’s done for me… This one is for him.”. It was clear that all the players chosen to play in the 2020 All-Star Game knew who they were there to remember.
LeBron stated in a post-game interview, “You could definitely feel [Kobe’s] presence from the start. He was definitely there.”. The NBA seized the opportunity in this 2020 All-Star Game to honor the legend that many consider one of the best guys to ever play. They did it in a way that they thought Kobe would have loved… by playing the game of basketball.
Sports by Katie 