CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The 2022 NBA All-Star Game ended in vintage fashion – with a LeBron James turnaround, step back, fall away jumper over Zach Lavine.
But the other kid from Akron took home the hardware, again.
James’ hit from 19 feet gave him 24 points and secured the victory for Team LeBron over Team Durant, 163-160 Sunday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, but Stephen Curry stole the show by hitting an All-Star record 16 3s and scoring 50 points.
“I could not have dreamed of that moment any better than the actuality that just happened,” James said. “For me to be back here, like I keep stating, 35 minutes south [from here] of where I grew up in Akron, Ohio, to hit the game winner in the All-Star Game with me and my guys in the back – we used to watch the All-Star Game, I remember 25 years ago we were 12, 11 wishing that we had the opportunity or the means to come up to Cleveland and see some of the greatest basketball players of all time because they inspired us so much. And for me to be here today for my best friends, to be here for my wife, my kids and my family and people who’ve seen me grow from a young toddler to where I am today I couldn’t picture that moment any better.”
As exhilarating as James’ shot was, Curry’s performance earned him the inaugural Kobe Bryant NBA All-Star MVP trophy.
“This is definitely special,” Curry said. “The first year we got to honor Kobe and his life and his legacy with this trophy , all the thought that went into it – I can’t spit it out off the top of my head but I know everything on this trophy means something in terms of his life and what he represented, [his] accomplishments on the court – to have it be the All-Star MVP trophy and for it to be the first one, it definitely makes it special.
“I’ve only won one, and to have this one, it’ll have a special place at my house.”
James said Saturday he was Cleveland’s third All-Star behind Cavs guard Darius Garand and center Jarrett Allen, but Curry took over Sunday night by launching, and hitting, a barrage of 3s.
It was a performance for the ages for a player who has become accustomed to leaving Cleveland with a trophy having beaten James and the Cavs three times in four years in the NBA Finals.
Curry, who was so hot he could’ve made one from San Francisco, hit six threes in the second quarter and had eight by halftime. He spent the second half taking and making heat checks all over the floor.
Curry’s performance overshadowed a sensational effort form Joel Embiid, who led Team Durant with 36 points and hit 14 of 20 shots from the floor.
James and Curry were among the 75 greatest players honored during halftime as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary celebration.
“Very surreal for sure,” Curry said. “I know for me and most of the active players that are on that list, it’s obviously a dream come true but it’s something that you don’t really get to appreciate until that moment at halftime. When you see everyone walk out, you understand where you are in the history of the league so it’s pretty special.”
With his high school teammates and friends in the back of the room Sunday night, James struggled to put into words what that ceremony meant to him, a kid who grew up in poverty in Akron who is living what felt like at that time was an impossible dream of joining his childhood idols among the NBA’s all-time greatest players.
“The sense of like, ‘I can’t believe that I’m here,’” James said. “I couldn’t really believe it. Every time they would announce another name, I didn’t even get an opportunity to rejoice in the player that they had named. It was like Gary Payton, I was like, ‘Wow.’ And then J. Kidd showed up, and then A. I. showed up and then there was D. Wade, C.P., and Steph. I was tripped out. I was tripped out.”
Garland and Allen were among seven new All-Stars this year and while they weren’t the headline, both shined.
Garland finished with 13 points on 5-12 shooting with a rebound, three assists and a pair of steals in his All-Star debut for the Cavs.
Allen was called upon to help play some defense late in the untimed, race to 24-points fourth quarter. Allen had 10 points and nine rebounds in the Team LeBron win.
The two Cavs All-Stars entered for the first time at the 3:49 mark of the first quarter and they quickly added to the highlight reel with Garland lobbing one up for Jarrett Allen to throw down with authority drawing oohs and ahhs from the capacity crowd.
The Team LeBron victory earned $450,000 for his Kent State I Promise student college tuition program while Team Durant contributed $300,000 to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.