Even though the All-Star Game wrapped up a week ago, the discourse around it continues to this day. Former Lakers head coach Byron Scott claims he hasn’t watched the NBA’s yearly spectacle since Kobe Bryant’s passing, and judging by the reactions to every subsequent edition, he feels he made the right choice.
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On his Fast Break podcast, Scott claimed Kobe was the only player who brought intensity to the game, and that players have lost the desire to be competitive on All-Star Weekend. He highlighted Kobe’s mentality and praised how Kobe would approach every ASG “like it was Game 7.”
Scott, who coached Bryant for 2 years and played with him for a year prior to that, knows firsthand how the Mamba was always eager to compete. He claimed it was this mentality that made All-Star Games watchable and brought up examples of how he would guard LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for entire halves just to see how good his opponents were.
“Alright I’m going against LeBron, I got LeBron in this first half, I got DWade in the second half,” Scott recalled when speaking of Kobe’s spirit. “Imma give them a 110% because I wanna see how good they are, that was his mentality!”
Of course, Scott’s comments about Bryant’s desire to always win are true, and he claimed this was the reason the NBA named the All-Star Game MVP trophy after him. Kobe had some great battles in the All-Star Weekends of the past, especially against Wade and James.
Kobe Bryant v Dwyane Wade, 2012 ASG
Dwyane Wade famously broke Kobe Bryant’s nose in the 2012 All-Star Game, leading to the first flagrant foul call in ASG history. Of course, Kobe, being the competitor he was, didn’t take it too seriously at the moment, but saved the incident in his mind.
As Wade recalled to Kevin Garnett a couple of years ago, Bryant told him he “loved it” when his nose broke. Sounds like a very Kobe thing to do. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Three games after the All-Star break, the Heat traveled to LA, and Wade was matched up with Kobe again.
“I’ll see you in a couple days young fella,” is what Bryant said to Wade after the festivities ended. “And he gave it to me too boy,” Wade recalled. He did indeed “give it” to Wade, as Kobe finished that night with 30 points on 14-of-23 shooting in a 93-83 Lakers victory.
Kobe v LeBron, 2011 ASG
Bryant didn’t spare Wade’s running mate LeBron James either. In the 2011 ASG, Bryant and James went at it in a historic battle. Though the West emerged victorious 148-143, that game is remembered more for their duel.
Bryant, in typical Mamba fashion, notched up an astounding 37 points in 29 minutes. In response, James notched up the second-ever ASG triple-double, registering a statline of 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in 32 minutes.
Not only did Kobe lead the West to a win, but he also received his 4th and final All-Star Game MVP. Maybe Scott’s words on Kobe being the only reason the ASG was watchable are true. After all, with 4 MVPs in the games, it’s a hard point to argue.
