Category: NBA All-Star

NBA All-Star records LeBron James owns and could add to this weekend

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James already owns a few All-Star Game career records, but he will likely add to that resume on Sunday.

This Sunday, Team LeBron and Team Giannis will face off against each other for the 69th NBA All-Star Game in Chicago. LeBron James has an opportunity to add to several of his All-Star Game All-Time records, many of which he ranks No. 1 in already. But there are some No. 1 spots in NBA All-Star history that James has a chance of attaining, while also having the opportunity to move up some pretty special lists.

Here are the records LeBron owns and is chasing, heading into to this year’s All-Star Weekend.

All statistics from Basketball-Reference

Games Played

When LeBron takes the court on Sunday and the game tips-off, he will have recorded his 16th All-Star Game appearance. That would move him out of a current 3-way tie with Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan for No. 3 on All-Time List, moving him alone into No. 2 All-Time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (18).

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Team LeBron favored by 5 in All-Star Game, AD favorite for MVP

The squad featuring both players of the Los Angeles Lakers and the coaching staff is favored by five points for Sunday’s All-Star Game.

The All-Star Weekend has finally arrived, as things will be getting underway later this evening in Chicago, starting with the Celebrity All-Star Game and the Rising Stars Game later on this evening. While there is some excitement surrounding All-Star Saturday night and the dunk contest, the main event comes on Sunday as Team LeBron will look to win for the third straight season.

According to the folks at BetOnline, Team LeBron is a 5-point favorite for Sunday while Anthony Davis is a 4/1 favorite to win All-Star MVP, followed closely by LeBron at 9/2. LeBron was the All-Star MVP at the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

All-Star Game MVP

Anthony Davis                          4/1

LeBron James                           9/2

Giannis Antetokounmpo            5/1

James Harden                           6/1

Luka Doncic                             9/1

Trae Young                               10/1

Kawhi Leonard                          14/1

Joel Embiid                               18/1

Jimmy Butler                             20/1

Kemba Walker                           20/1

Pascal Siakam                          20/1

Russell Westbrook                    20/1

Devin Booker                            25/1

Jayson Tatum                            25/1

Ben Simmons                           33/1

The folks at BetOnline also have the over-under set at 300.5 points, which seems like a lot, but teams have come close to scoring almost 200 points over the past few seasons. However, this season’s new format, where each quarter will represent an individual win, could change the way scoring goes as teams may be more incentivized to play defense.

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Video resurfaces of LeBron James reacting to Kobe’s game-winner in 2006

The now Los Angeles Lakers forward couldn’t believe the Phoenix Suns let Kobe Bryant go the full court without a double-team.

With the NBA All-Star Weekend around the corner, the NBA’s memories and mourning of Kobe Bryant will only continue as the league remembers his storied career. And perhaps as a sign of things to come for the NBA’s content offerings during All-Star Weekend, they dug up an old clip from 2006 that brings some goosebumps in the wake of his tragic death along with his daughter Gianna and seven others.

As part of a retrospective that ran yesterday on NBA TV entitled Kobe Bryant, through the years, they found an old video of LeBron James reacting to Bryant’s game-winner in Game 4 of the Western Conference playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. LeBron knew it was going in once he saw the Suns didn’t force the ball from Bryant’s hands.

“You can’t let him get the ball like that. You don’t let him get the ball, I don’t care,” LeBron said after seeing Bryant put up one of his most famous shots. Bryant was one of the players LeBron looked up to coming into the league, so we not only got to see the competitor in him but also the basketball fan.

We will likely see more memories and clips that most of us haven’t seen as the NBA goes back to the archives this weekend to find memories of Kobe Bryant.

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NBA All-Star Game: Team LeBron takes Anthony Davis with first pick

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James went with his teammate Anthony Davis as Team LeBron and Team Giannis picked their teams.

In a shock to absolutely nobody, despite the way that LeBron James tried to sell it, Anthony Davis was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 All-Star Draft by Team LeBron.

Joining Davis and James on Team LeBron were the rest of the Western Conference All-Star starters: Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Houston’s James Harden.

Joining Team Giannis will he his first two picks Joel Embiid of the Sixers and Pascal Siakam of Raptors, followed by Boston’s Kemba Walker and finally Atlanta’s Trae Young.

With the first pick of the reserves, Giannis Antetokounmpo followed suit with LeBron by picking his teammate Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks. LeBron followed the that selection by picking Portland’s Damian Lillard, who scored 48 points in a win last Friday at the Lakers.

In fact, there were only six players in total who switched conferences among both teams. Utah’s duo of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell join Brandon Ingram on Team Giannis while Jayson Tatum, Ben Simmons and Domantas Sabonis will join West players in Team LeBron.

The All-Star Game is set for Feb. 16 in Anthony Davis’ hometown of Chicago.

Dwight Howard officially announced as part of Slam Dunk Contest field

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard will make his return to the contest for the first time in 11 years.

NBA All-Star Weekend is just about 10 days away and while there had been reports about him participating, the NBA officially announced that Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard will be one of four participants in the 2020 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest that will take place on Feb. 15.

Howard won the Dunk Contest in 2008 and last participated in the contest back in 2009. His participation in the Dunk Contest no doubt marks another checkpoint in one of the league’s best redemption stories as Howard has gone from pariah to fan favorite in less than a season.

Howard will be joined in the contest by Orlando’s Aaron Gordon, who was a runner-up in the epic 2016 contest with Zach LaVaine, while Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr. will make his second appearance. Milwaukee’s Pat Connaughton will be making his first appearance in the dunk contest as he looks to become the first Bucks player to win the contest.

With Connaughton and Howard in particular, their All-Star Captain teammates in Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James can’t be written off from making a Saturday night appearance.

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NBA All-Star 2020: Team LeBron to wear No. 2 for Gigi, Team Giannis to wear 24 for Kobe

Both teams in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago will honor the memory of Gianna Bryant and Kobe Bryant in a couple of weeks.

Earlier this week, the NBA announced changes to the format for the upcoming 2020 All-Star Game, which also includes a tribute to Kobe Bryant. But the gesture of changing the structure of the game isn’t the only thing the NBA is doing to honor the memory of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and seven others who were lost in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

The NBA announced on Friday that both teams in the game, Team LeBron and Team Giannis, will wear numbers dedicated to the memory of the Bryant’s who passed on Sunday. Everyone on Team LeBron will wear No. 2, the number Gigi wore, while Team Giannis will wear No. 24 in honor of Kobe. Both teams will also wear jersey patches honoring the memory of John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan.

The reserves for the All-Star Game were announced on Thursday and the draft for the All-Star Game with Team LeBron and Team Giannis is scheduled to happen next Thursday after the NBA trade deadline passes.

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NBA announces changes to All-Star Game, ASG tribute to Kobe Bryant

Team LeBron and Team Giannis will have the scores set to 0-0 in each of the first three quarters before a 4th quarter tribute to Kobe.

Later this evening, the NBA will announce the pool of reserves from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference to be selected by Team Giannis and Team LeBron during the draft for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago. But before the rest of the All-Star players are announced, the league announced some changes to how the game will be played, including a tribute in the fourth quarter to Kobe Bryant.

In a change from the past few years, each of the first three quarters of the game will start at 0-0. The winner of each quarter will win $100,000 to a Chicago-based charity of their choosing. Then the fourth quarter will begin with a cumulative score from the first three quarters. Then as a tribute to Kobe Bryant, they will add 24 points to the leading team’s point total after three quarters to create a target score that both teams will play to in an untimed fourth quarter.

The tribute to Kobe is an adapted version of the Elam Ending, which is most famously used in the summer event called “The Basketball Tournament.” In the Elam Ending, the clock is shut off in the final four minutes and the winning team adds seven points to create the game’s target score. In the All-Star version, the entire fourth quarter will be untimed with the target score decided by an extra 24 points.

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24 marvelous moments from Kobe Bryant’s illustrious career

Kobe Bryant had an incredible 20-year career filled with thrills and highlights.

Kobe Bryant passed away Jan. 26, 2020 with eight others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, (CA). The Lakers great leaves a basketball legacy that is stunning.

Draft Day

Andy Hayt/NBAE via Getty Images

It was a short time but the Charlotte Hornets did have the rights to Kobe Bryant for a moment, making him the 13th overall selection in the 1996 NBA Draft.

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Luka Doncic says playing with LeBron in All-Star ‘would be amazing’

Dallas Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic wants to play with LeBron James but he doesn’t think he will be the No. 1 pick.

Dallas Mavericks phenom Luka Doncic earned his first-ever NBA All-Star Game selection on Thursday night, as one of the 10 starters voted into the game by fans, media, and players. And of course, now Doncic has the chance to play with one of his idols during the game, Los Angeles Lakers star and All-Star Game captain, LeBron James.

Prior to Thursday night’s game between the Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers, Doncic told reporters what it would be like for him if he got the opportunity to play with LeBron.

“It would be amazing,” Doncic said on Thursday after learning of his All-Star selection. “Everybody knows what LeBron means to me. It would be special for me.”

However, given that LeBron’s running-mate Anthony Davis is also in the starter pool, Doncic believes he’s unlikely to get the honor of being LeBron’s No. 1 pick.

“No … I don’t think I will be,” Doncic said.

Doncic was the leader in the All-Star voting in the first set of results before LeBron James surged ahead of him and the rest of the field.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the other All-Star captain and he will have the No. 2 pick, as well as the first selection of the reserves.

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2020 All-Star Game: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo are captains

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo will be All-Star captains for the second year in a row.

For the second straight year, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Milwaukee Bucks MVP Giannis Antetokoumpo will be the captains for the NBA All-Star Game, as the representatives for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively.

LeBron, for the third straight season, was the leading vote-getter in the fan-vote. Antetokounmpo and James will be the captains when the NBA has the All-Star draft after the NBA trade deadline passes.

Joining LeBron in the West are his Lakers running mate Anthony Davis, L.A. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Houston’s James Harden. With Davis joining, it’s the first time since 2013 that the Lakers have two All-Star starters.

The players from the East joining Giannis as starters are Atlanta’s Trae Young, Boston’s Kemba Walker, Toronto’s Pascal Siakam and Philadelphia center Joel Embiid.

Since the new version of the All-Star game started with two captains picking teams, Team LeBron is 2-0. When he starts on Feb. 16, he will set the NBA record for All-Star starts with 16, passing Kobe Bryant (15).

The reserves from each conference will be named next Thursday. They will then go into a pool of their own to be selected from after LeBron and Giannis pick four players each from the other eight starters.

NBA All-Star weekend is set for Chicago between Feb. 14-16 and the game will played on Sunday night.