Just because it’s an All-Star game doesn’t mean that players like Kobe Bryant don’t take the stage seriously. Playing in front of his home city crowd of Los Angeles, the Black Mamba came out with venom dripping from his fangs. Kobe scored 21 points in the first half en route to his record fourth All-Star MVP with 37 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Rocking the Nike Zoom Kobe VI ‘All-Star’, Mamba sent an up close and personal message to his NBA peers when he blew by Derrick Rose along the baseline and threw down a 180-reverse slam. The best dunk of the night however, was definitely the two-hand jam in LeBron’s face in transition.
LeBron James had himself a game though – no denying that whatsoever. Recording only the second triple-double in All-Star history (Michael Jordan is the first), the King dazzled the celebrity-ridden crowd with 29 points, 12 boards and 10 dimes. He definitely put the Nike LeBron 8 V2 ‘All-Star’ on full display to the 270 countries that were watching on Sunday night. Bron’s highlight of the night came in the fourth quarter when he went the length of court, accelerating at midcourt and destroying the rim with a vicious tomahawk. While Blake Griffin comes in at an intensely close second, James is still the most terrifying athlete in the league, hands down.
Reigning scoring champ Kevin Durant showed off plenty of athleticism of his own in the Nike Zoom KD III ‘All-Star’ with 34 points, including a clutch triple in the closing minutes of the game. OKC teammate Russell Westbrook wowed the capacity crowd with a breakaway tomahawk dunk while New York Knicks MVP candidate, Amare Stoudemire, poured in 29 points of his own in 28 minutes. Slam Dunk champ Blake Griffin showed off his mind-blowing athleticism as well with a few highlight jams that earned oohs and aahs.
Overall, this was one of the more entertaining All-Star games of recent memory because for the most part, it really seemed like there was a bit of tension between both conferences, which clearly escalated in the second half. It might be the best exhibition game you’ll ever seen in all of sports, but it’s all the more special when the players really show a lot of pride and play to win. You can already tell that young superstars like Kevin Durant are more than capable of racking up a few MVP trophies of his own in the years to come. The game is in great hands.
What did you think of the 2011 NBA All-Star game? Tell us some of your thoughts below!
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photos: sportsillustrated.cnn.com