All-Star Game MVP award renamed for Kobe
CHICAGO — The NBA is immediately renaming the All-Star MVP trophy in honor of Kobe Bryant, the 18-time All-Star who — along with his daughter Gianna and seven others — died in a helicopter crash in Southern California last month.
All-Star weekend has taken on a somber tone this year, largely because of multiple tributes for Bryant and NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern, who died Jan. 1.
“I know it will be especially meaningful to that player that wins the first Kobe Bryant MVP,” Silver said Saturday night at his annual All-Star weekend news conference. “So I’m sure there will be other honors as well, and as I mentioned, there are other things that we will be discussing with our board, the NBA board, when they meet in April to honor David.
“But this one seems so appropriate here at All-Star because nobody embodied All-Star more than Kobe Bryant.”
Bam’s got skills: The Heat’s Bam Abedayo won the All-Star skills challenge.
Abedayo narrowly defeated the Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis in the final in a matchup of All-Star big men. He shared a hug with former Heat star Dwyane Wade after accepting the trophy.
Abedayo eliminated 2018 champion Spencer Dinwiddie of the Nets and Raptors star Pascal Siakam in the first two rounds on the obstacle course. Sabonis advanced with victories over defending champion Jayson Tatum of the Celtics and the Bucks’ Khris Middleton.
Abedayo, 22, is in the middle of a breakout season, averaging 15.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 54 games for the Heat.
Rift with China continues: The NBA and USA Basketball are still considering playing in China later this year, though the complexities of both the political rift caused by a tweet last fall are making those plans seem decidedly uncertain.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the discussions in both cases — preOlympic games for USA Basketball and preseason games for the NBA — are ongoing, and said the decisions aren’t necessarily linked.
“Those are issues that haven’t been decided yet,” Silver said.
The strain started Oct. 4, when Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted an image that read “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” referencing several months of pro-democracy demonstrations in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
The tweet wasn’t up for long. The fallout was massive and continues. A pair of preseason games between the Nets and Lakers in China were played days after Morey’s tweet, though without the support of several sponsors and with both teams playing in silence.