NBA stars say goodbye to Lakers legend Bryant
TORONTO — With the entire building behind Kobe Bryant, perhaps it wasn’t surprising that even the rims were friendly to the retiring great early on at the All-Star game in Toronto on Sunday night.
After being feted with multiple videos and a speech from Magic Johnson before tipoff, Bryant’s first field goal came after the ball whirled around the rim three times before dropping through.
Later, a three-pointer rolled round before falling through.
It wasn’t like Magic’s storybook allstar swan song in Orlando back in the day, when Johnson won MVP, as Paul George and Russell Westbrook stole the 18-time all-star’s thunder.
Still, Bryant didn’t embarrass himself, scoring 10 points, dishing out seven assists and hauling in six rebounds in the West’s 196-173 win. He also passed Michael Jordan as the all-time steals leader at All-Star games.
But just as this game marked a symbolic passing of the torch from Bryant to LeBron James, it also statistically saw a passing of the torch from Bryant to James as the event’s all-time scoring leader.
James came in two points shy (and second in points per game — Bryant came in 10th) and scored 13. The two went 1-on-1 a couple of times, but Bryant missed both shots to finish a point behind in the overall tally. He still had a great time. “It was fun. I had a blast playing with those guys, laughing and joking with them on the bench,” Bryant said.
Having his wife and daughters on hand made it extra special.
“They were sitting right behind the bench, so I was talking to them virtually the whole game. They’ve enjoyed this as much as I have,” he said.
Bryant was always chasing Jordan, after modelling his game after him and only Jordan consistently received louder ovations from Toronto hoops fans over the history of the Raptors franchise than Bryant. But there’s nothing wrong with being the second most popular player to roll through town.
West head coach Gregg Popovich and James called the farewell bittersweet.
“I’m just thrilled that I was able to be here and see that ... He’s a great one,” said Popovich. No doubt about that. “When you get that opportunity versus a great man, you just have fun with it,” James said.
Before the game, Bryant thanked the fans for backing him so strongly over the years.
The Kobe chants were loud when he was subbed out with 1:06 remaining in the game, receiving hugs from all of his fellow allstars.
Bryant gave a thumbs up and mouthed, “thank you.”
This annual weekend has been a key one in building Bryant’s legacy. Once the youngest all-star ever, Bryant was selected to the game 18 times, one behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record.