NBA Renames All-Star Game MVP Award After Kobe Bryant!
During a press conference in Chicago at All-Star Weekend, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy will be renamed after the late Los Angeles Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant. While speaking with the press, Silver said the first All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award will be presented after the game at the United Center in Chicago, where the league is currently celebrating the lives of Bryant, his daughter Gianna along with seven other people who tragically died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in California.
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“No one embodied All-Star more than Kobe Bryant,” Silver said in announcing the change. He went on to say, “Kobe Bryant is synonymous with NBA All-Star and embodies the spirit of this global celebration of our game. 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.”
As ESPN reported, Bryant was named to the All-Star Game 18 times in his career, including every year from 2000-2016. He won the game’s MVP award in 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011. The renamed award is expected to make its debut this Sunday following the exhibition between Team LeBron and Team Giannis.
The Saturday press event was the first time Silver has discussed the tragic event and why he decided not to cancel any of that day’s games.
“The immediate issue was whether games were going to be played that night on Sunday night. Through our operation center in Secaucus, New Jersey, we have a live look into every one of our arenas, and we realized that people were already assembling for some of the games that were scheduled. People were already in arenas, and there still had not been confirmation… that Kobe and Gigi had lost their lives.”
He added,
“So it didn’t feel appropriate to us that we should be canceling our events and acknowledging something that was not official yet. We were in touch with the family indirectly, and I think also, certainly in that moment, they were not prepared to acknowledge something that had not clearly happened.”
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