NBA All-Star MVP Award Renamed Kobe Bryant MVP Award

Kobe and Gianna Bryant
Photo credit getty

According to an announcement, Saturday by Commissioner Adam Silver, the MVP award for the NBA All-Star Game is now called the Kobe Bryant MVP Award.

“Kobe Bryant is synonymous with NBA All-Star and embodies the spirit of this global celebration of our game,” Silver said. “He always relished the opportunity to compete with the best of the best and perform at the highest level for millions of fans around the world.”

The award will be presented Sunday at the end of the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago. 

Bryant was named All-Star Game MVP in  2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011. At 19 years old, he was the youngest player in an All-Star  Game. 

Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed January 26, when a helicopter they were flying in crashed in Thousand Oaks. 

At Sunday night's game, Jennifer Hudson performed a special tribute to Bryant and the other crash victims, before the player introductions. 

Jennifer Hudson. Wow. --#MambaForever pic.twitter.com/FEPBhk7kH0

— Complex (@Complex) February 17, 2020

The teams will be captained by LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Team LeBron will wear No. 2., Gianna's number, while Team Giannis will wear No. 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant. 

The All-Star game is Sunday, February 16 at 5:00 p.m. PST 

How to watch live stream: You can watch the 2020 Slam Dunk Contest live stream via Watch TNT and the TNT app using your cable provider login. If you don’t have cable, you can still watch the event live for FREE with fuboTV (free trial) or with Hulu Live (free trial).