The NBA All-Star game like most others doesn’t really feature real competition. The best players in the game usually just show off their skills which results in a high offensive game with very little defense. The big stars don’t want to get hurt during a meaningless game. Well all except Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba has been known to get intense during the game and urging others to do the same. Since he’s retiring at the end of this season and this will be his last All-Star game, he’s hoping they make it a great one.
It will be Kobe Bryant’s 18th and final All-Star game. He knows it will be filled with love and nostalgia but doesn’t want his opponents to take it easy on him. He recalled a retiring Michael Jordan telling him the same thing years ago via Yahoo Sports:
“One thing that Michael said was, ‘Just because it’s my last All-Star Game, I don’t want you to come out there going soft on me,’” Bryant recently said. “‘I want you to play me how you would normally play me.’ I was like, ‘Mike, what do you know about me that would lead you to tell me that?’ We both got a good laugh out of that.
“The thing I remember most was the competition. Those are the things that I will always cherish. Hopefully, they will come out and compete as always this year. Those are the things I will always carry with me. Just true competition.”
