NBA All-star Game

NBA All-star Game

Sunday February 14th the city of Toronto hosted the NBA all-star game. Not only was it the first NBA all-star game hosted outside of the USA, it was the first all-star game Toronto hosted. There was a major hype about all-star weekend prior to the event but when it finally came, Toronto lived up to all of it's hype. This weekend was huge for all the NBA players but one in specific this was his final all-star game of his career. Kobe Bryant made his 18th and final All-Star appearance after getting the fan vote to start, and the night catered to him. He was the last player introduced, received the loudest and longest applause at Air Canada Centre, and received a send-off from Magic Johnson before the game as a Kobe video tribute played. Both squads gave him a standing ovation. Bryant finished with 10 points, after a few playful one-on-one contests with James. The most meaningful line from Kobe is that he played the most minutes on the West. He received a standing ovation when he left the game with 1:06 left. When Kobe left the game he got a warm round of applause from the Toronto faithful. In other news Paul George dropped 41 points, one point shy of Wilt Chamberlain's single game all-star game record of 42 points. The West ended up winning over the East by the score of 196-173. Russell Westbrook won the MVP award for the second straight season, becoming the first player to do so.

 

This All-star game was huge for the city of Toronto in my opinion because it shows that the city is capable to host a huge event. Also they didn't just host it they hosted it with a great fan base and a lot of celebrities. I don't think the players minded coming to Toronto for the All-star game, I think they had a great time. There was a lot of question if Toronto was the right city to host it, but I they hit the ball out of the park. With guest host Drake being there when the players got introduced and being court side for the game and many other celebrities being there really put the cherry on top of the whole weekend.