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TDIKH: February 10

Feb. 10, 2002

23 years, 171 days

Returning to his hometown of Philadelphia just a year after defeating the 76ers in the NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant was showered with boos at the 2002 All-Star Game.

But that didn’t stop him from dropping 31 points — the most by any player in an All-Star Game since 1988 — and being named the game’s MVP for the first time.

Bryant shot 12-of-25 with five rebounds and five assists to lead the Western Conference to a 135-120 victory.

Bryant was flanked in the West’s starting lineup by Steve Fancis, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

They faced an East team started off by Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Antoine Walker and Dikembe Mutombo.

Ironically for Bryant, his MVP performance came at the expense of his former teammate and future coach, Byron Scott, who was at the helm of the Eastern Conference’s best.

Kobe performances on this day in history: