Giannis Antetokounmpo's team, led by a spectacular Jayson Tatum, defeated LeBron James's team this Sunday in the NBA All-Star (175-184). The Celtics player was chosen MVP of the tournament, and with 55 points he broke the scoring record in an all-star game, surpassing Anthony Davis' 52 in 2017.
With a 10 of 18 three-pointer and a third period in which he had 27 points (the record for scoring in a quarter in an All-Star), Tatum received the Kobe Bryant MVP Award. He declared that it meant "a lot" to him to have reached the points record, but maintained that all brands "are there to be surpassed" and assured that in a few years someone will snatch that honor from him.
LeBron James, for his part, suffered his first loss after the All-Star format change in 2018. The Lakers star suffered a slight bruise on his right hand and did not play in the second half as a precaution. Antetokounmpo, who had been a doubt until the last minute with a wrist injury, came out in his team's starting lineup but didn't last long on the court as he hit a basket and went to the bench 20 seconds later.
Another of the protagonists of the tournament was Pau Gasol, who 'debuted' as a coach, and in one of the timeouts received the Kobe honorary award
"It is an honor to receive this distinction, which makes me especially happy because it represents two people who are and will always be in my heart," said the former Spanish player. "Kobe's work, especially during his later years, to support women's sports is an excellent example of where we need to direct our efforts to ensure complete equality in sport," he added.
A six-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion, he also received this Sunday the first Bob Lanier Award for Community Service, an honorary distinction that is part of the NBA Legend Awards organized by the league's former players' association. . In addition, he was voted a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday and also made his bench debut by winning as 'honorary coach' in the G-League rookie/sophomore/youth weekend tournament. the stars in the NBA.
On March 7, Gasol will experience another special moment, as the Los Angeles Lakers will retire his jersey in a special ceremony in the Californian city.
The main novelty of this All-Star was that the captains chose their players in turns just before the game started (in recent years this process was done days before the match). Thus, LeBron chose Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Paul George ( Los Angeles Clippers), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Julius Randle (New York Knicks), De'Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies).
For his part, Antetokounmpo selected Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) and Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings).
This All-Star had very prominent absences such as those of the injured Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans).
During the break, the NBA paid a special tribute to the three greatest scorers in history: LeBron James -who broke the record a couple of weeks ago-, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.
