CHICAGO • It was probably fitting that Kawhi Leonard, the reigning NBA Finals' Most Valuable Player, stole the show on the floor before sharing how Kobe Bryant had inspired his journey to the top.
In the 69th National Basketball Association All-Star Game on Sunday night, he finished with 30 points and seven rebounds and claimed the Kobe Bryant MVP award. It was officially renamed after the former Los Angeles Laker, who died along with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash on Jan 26.
At Chicago's United Centre, the city's favourite son Anthony Davis turned out to be the other game winner, sinking a free throw to cap a thrilling fourth quarter and lift Team LeBron to a 157-155 win over Team Giannis.
Said Leonard, who grew up in Riverside, east of Los Angeles: "I want to thank Kobe for everything he has done for me, all the long talks and workouts. Thank you.
"Words can't explain how happy I am... Able to put that trophy in my room, in my trophy room, and just be able to see Kobe's name on there, it just means a lot to me.
"He's a big inspiration in my life."
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead Team Giannis, who kept the game tight until the finish.
The untimed fourth quarter was a race to 157 points - determined by adding 24 points, a tribute to Bryant's jersey number, to the score of the team (Team Giannis' 133) in the lead after three quarters.
At 156-155, Davis went to the line for two shots after he was fouled by Kyle Lowry.
"I told my teammates I was going to go to miss the first one and put more pressure on myself to knock down the second one," the Lakers forward, who had 20 points, said in jest later.
The night began with Lakers icon Magic Johnson making an emotional speech honouring Bryant in front of a crowd of 20,900.
The arena fell silent for eight seconds before tip-off as they joined hands to pay their respects to the global sports icon. The silence was then broken by a string of thunderous "Kobe, Kobe, Kobe" chants.
"We'll never see another basketball player quite like Kobe," said Johnson, who also paid tribute to David Stern, the former long-time NBA commissioner who died on Jan 1. "Scoring 81 points in one game. Scoring 60 points in his last game. And then winning five NBA championships."
LeBron James, who had 23 points, made his 16th All-Star start to break a tie with Bryant, who still has the most All-Star MVP awards with four.
"His legacy is living on every single day with us," said James.
The players also honoured Bryant by having Team Giannis wear his No. 24 and Team LeBron wear his basketball-playing daughter's No. 2. On Friday, Bryant, fourth in the all-time scoring charts, was named a finalist to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Team LeBron's win meant US$400,000 (S$555,400) in prize money went to their designated youth charity Chicago Scholars.
When the dust settled, Antetokounmpo said it was important to acknowledge what other players had said after the game: that they felt Bryant's presence in the building.
"We definitely felt it... Growing up, watching Kobe in those games, I felt like he was always competitive, the one who got the game going," Milwaukee's reigning regular-season MVP said.
"I think we kept that going tonight. He definitely would have loved to watch the way we went out there and competed tonight."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
