This past weekend saw scores of people converging upon Cleveland for this year’s NBA All-Star Game, which was preceded by plenty of dope events throughout — including a celebrity game, 3-point challenge, and the always iconic slam-dunk contest, the last of which saw Obi Toppin as the victor. After all of that, Team Lebron and Team Durant took to the court to show the world who is the best of the best currently active within the 75-year-old league, with the former barely edging out the latter with a final score of 163-160.
Naturally, the highlights were more than in abundance, beginning with Stephen Curry, who earned All-Star MVP honors thanks to 50 points and a whopping 16 3-pointers overall. For reference, the previous record was held by Paul George, who delivered nine 3-pointers back in 2016. Despite not having his best game of the night, Lebron also sealed his teams victory with an impressive fadeaway shot. During his post-game interview, he revealed that his game-winner was inspired by Michael Jordan, who had a major impact on his career as a whole:
“It was so much chaos going on after we all kind of split, I did not want to lose the opportunity to, uh… to shake the man’s hand that inspired me throughout my childhood. I haven’t had much dialogue wit’ him in my 20 years, 19 years in this business, but part of me wouldn’t be here without MJ‘s inspiration. I always wanted to be like him growing up … it’s crazy that the game-winning shot tonight was a fadeaway, and it was inspired by MJ. The way he wore his shoes, the way he wore his uniform, all the way down to some of the cars that he drove.”
If you missed it, you can check out some video highlights of the All-Star Game below.