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James led the East with 28 points, going 11-for-20 from the floor and 4-for-8 from three-point range. He led the starters with six assists and grabbed six boards. His stellar performance wasn’t enough to bring his club back, as was the case last year in Houston when the East erased a 21-point deficit and the young King was named the game’s MVP.
“This time (the West) didn’t miss shots when they got behind,” said LeBron. “Last year, we got behind but they started missing shots and we were able to get back into it. They definitely played well and they have the All-Star title back.”
Kobe Bryant won this year’s MVP and he looked like a guy who really wanted to win it. Kobe finished with 31 points – the only starter in double-figures for the West – going 13-for-24 from the floor.
He and James did battle in the fourth quarter and have now met every four days for the past week-and-a-half. This is the first of the three meetings, though, that Kobe’s club has come out on top. I can assume that LeBron is content with the first two.
“Kobe Bryant is a guy I love competing against and I’m sure he feels the same way about me,” said James after the game. “I just wanted to compete until the last second. You don’t want to go out there and start messing around – that’s how injuries happen.”
The game itself was somewhat of a yawner. Aside from Wayne Newton’s open and Shaquille O'Neals sweet juke against Mehmet Okur at the top of the key, the crowd at Thomas & Mack were less than riveted.
Despite the Western Conference blowout, James and Co. still had a blast over the weekend.
“We always have fun All-Star Weekend,” smiled LeBron. “It’s an opportunity to come together for the fans. And their dream is to get every one of their favorite players in the same building and we were able to accomplish that. It’s been everything and more.”
James returns to his red-hot Cavaliers club – which is a missed rebound from a five-game win streak – on Monday night and the Wine and Gold will hit the road for the first half of a back-to-back in Toronto. On Thursday, The Q should be jumping as the Bulls roll into town for their third meeting of the year.
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There was Larry Bird’s sharp-shooting performance in 1988 in Chicago, when he walked into the locker room before the competition and asked who was going to finish second. The Slam Dunk Contest has provided Cedric Ceballos blindfolded, Vince Carter between the legs, Michael Jordan from the foul line and of course, simply Spud.
This year, the Cavaliers sent two participants to Saturday night’s festivities, but both LeBron James and Damon Jones were knocked out in the first round of their respective events. LeBron James, who finished second to Dwyane Wade in last year’s PlayStation Skills Challenge, put up a final time of 35.4 seconds in his first run-through and was knocked out by Wade on his first run.
Damon Jones fared a little better, pouring in 15 points his first foray into the Three-Point Shootout. But Gilbert Arenas followed up by dropping 23 points on the competition. Jones was knocked out, and it was former Cavalier Jason Kapono who got the win, blowing by Arenas and last year’s winner, Dirk Nowitzki, for the title.
In the Slam Dunk Contest, last year’s winner – New York’s Nate Robinson – threw down a pair of impressive dunks, including a 360 off the backboard that charged up the Vegas faithful. But it was Boston’s Gerald Green who took top honors by dunking over a table after taking off from just inside the foul line.
On Green’s first dunk, he went old school and donned a Dee Brown jersey before pumping up his shoes and going no-look over the top of Robinson’s head.
Michael Jordan was stingy with the scoring before acquiescing and giving it up for Green.
But the most entertaining event – by far – of the night, was the charity foot-race between TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and 67-year-old referee, Dick Bavetta.
The Thomas and Mack Center was electric as the two lined up for the race, three and half times up and down the court, with $50,000 – or as Sir Charles said “two blackjack hands” – going to the Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas.
Barkley got off to two false starts and, in an ominous sign, Bavetta couldn’t seem to get out of his warm-up pants.
Once the race was on, it was close with Sir Cumference pulling ahead on the second time up the court. He back-peddled to the finish line, flopping backwards for the win. Bavetta made a last-gasp dive – and bloodied his knee in the process – but finished just short.
Ernie Johnson tried to interview the winner, but a winded Barkley asked him to go to Bavetta first.
“I honestly thought I could win the race,” said Bavetta, who called for a rematch immediately following the race. “I had no doubt in my mind that I could do the prescribed distance. It was just questionable what Charles could do.”
“But like I said at the beginning, you never underestimate the heart of a champion.”
On Sunday night, it’s for real as the league’s best go at it in the 56th annual NBA All-Star Game.
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Media day – like much of All-Star Weekend – is nothing short of a zoo. It’s a feeding frenzy for the international media, which doesn’t get the opportunity that Cleveland scribes get to interact with the Chosen One on a daily basis.
I could write about what went on in the session – like Boris Becker interviewing Dirk Nowitzki or the crazy Canadian reporter asking each All-Star to be his best man – but LeBron got a chance to answer some questions he’s not normally asked. Here’s a few of his responses …
On why there aren’t more posters of him around Vegas, considering he was last year’s All-Star MVP …
“I really don’t understand it. I don’t have an answer -- maybe we can go to Kinko’s and get some posters printed up and put them up on the walls around here.”
On when the playing around stops and the players start focusing on winning …
“Second half. First half you get a lot of turnovers with guys throwing alley-oops and everyone taking long jumpers, but in the second half, it can get pretty serious. The Eastern Conference – we want to win the game; we want those bragging rights of winning it again.”
On the Cavaliers heading into the All-Star break …
“It ended great. For us, it could have ended a lot worse because we weren’t playing inspired basketball at one point. But we got to a point where we said: ‘Hey, guys. It’s time to play Cavs basketball. And the way we ended going into the All-Star break was perfect, especially getting a big win (Thursday) night at the Staples Center.”
On one thing that’s strange about Vegas …
“You never know what time it is until you walk outside.”
On his family after winning the All-Star MVP trophy last year …
“They were a little more excited than me. For me to hold up that trophy in front of all the fans and all my family is something special to my mom and my whole family. And when the MVP Trophy finally came home in the mail, it made it reality that I was the All-Star MVP at 21 years old. It was awesome.”
On the difficulties of shooting commercials in the off-season …
“It’s easy. You find a day when you’re not doing much of anything and you coordinate it and get it done. They fly you out there and you make the magic.”
On choosing which commercials to do …
“I don’t shoot any commercial that’s not me. If it doesn’t fit my personality; if it doesn’t fit who LeBron is – I don’t shoot them. You see all TheBrons and it’s funny and that’s the type of character I am. I’m not going to go out there and not reflect who I am.”
Who he likes in the Dick Bavetta-Charles Barkley foot-race …
“I like Bavetta. Because I’ve seen Bavetta run down the court alongside me for four years and I haven’t seen Charles run up and down the court in a long, long time. We’re with Bavetta all the way – 110 percent. All things being even, there’s no way (Charles) can win.”
On which celebrity he’d like to meet that he hasn’t …
“Bill Clinton. Because he’s the president that I grew up with. And I loved his style and the way he did things. He was out in the open – he came to football and basketball events. So Bill Clinton is definitely a guy I want to meet.”
On his fame being too much sometimes …
“At times it can be. But it never stops me from going out and being part of public life. I go out – I go to the movies or the mall. I go out to eat. So I think my home city of Akron, they respect my private life and when I’m out they respect what I’m doing.”
Whether he’s ever made a bad investment …
“I bought a Lamborghini Gallardo in Cleveland, Ohio. I sold it. I lost a couple dollars. I traded it in for a Mercedes Benz.”
On Gilbert Arenas’ recent comments that LeBron doesn’t like to take the last shot …
“I didn’t go crazy when I heard it. Gil’s a good guy; I know Gil personally. I joked with him about it. I hit two game-winners that put him out of the playoffs. I didn’t overreact and say, ‘Why’d he say that?’ Gil’s a good friend of mine.”
On Damon Jones in the FootLocker Long-Distance Shootout …
“He’s definitely an underdog right now – behind Dirk and Gilbert Arenas. But I will be there cheering and I’m hoping he doesn’t let us down.”
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