By Leland Stein III –

The 60th annual NBA All-Star game did not set a Guinness World Record of 108,713 basketball fans from around the globe like the 2010 game did at Cowboys Stadium last year.

Instead 17,163, including a celebrity filled contingent, descended on Staple Center in Downtown Los Angeles and were not disappointed, as their favorite son, fivetime NBA Finals champion Kobe Bryant helped his Western Conference teammates avenge the Eastern Conference’s 141-139 victory in the 2010 game.

From the start of the 2011 contest Bryant, who missed last year's game in Dallas with an ankle injury, was a step faster and seemed more determined than anyone else on the floor.

By halftime he had tossed in 21 points, and by game’s end he had 37 points and 14 rebounds in the Western Conference's 148-143 victory.

The NBA’s younger generation of players are starting to prove that the league is in good shape on the floor, but Bryant, a 15-year veteran, reminded all the there is still a lot of juice in his legs. Making his 13th NBA all-star appearance, but playing his last All-Star Game in Los Angeles, he joined Bob Pettit as the only other player to win four All-Star Game MVP trophies after winning the honor Sunday night.

"I feel like we have a sense of responsibility,” Bryant said, “because we are voted in for what we do during the season, which is play hard. And we come here, that's what the fans want to see. They want to see us go at it and see us compete and that's what I try to do and that's what I try to tell my teammates to do.

"Being home, I wanted to come out and play hard, put on a good show. This being my last all-star game in front of these fans, it feels good. Sure this is made more special for that reason . . . I understand it will not be back before I retire.”

Said Chris Paul: “Kobe was outstanding. I talked to him before the game and told him let’s go. He is a lot like me . . . an ultimate competitor. I know the All-Star games are supposed to be fun and games, but at the end of the day we want to win.”

Bryant tied Kevin Garnett for the fourth-highest scoring game in all-star history, and moved into fourth place on the career all-star scoring list with 244 points. Bryant said he was aware he was closing in on Wilt Chamberlain's single-game record of 42 points, but didn't have the legs to finish the fourth period after throwing down four dunks. "Man I had nothing left," Bryant said. "I exceeded my dunk quota for the game."

Bryant was also involved in the play of the games, as he dribbled up the court and looked over to his right, where LeBron James was sprinting back to implement his now famous chase down block shot. Bryant picked up steam and soared toward the rim throwing down a two-handed dunk as James flew over the top.

"I wanted to see if I could avoid the LeBron chase down," Bryant said, with a sly grin on his face. "I told him afterwards, if I had tried to go over the rim, like get up, he probably would have blocked it with his armpit. I kind of snuck it by him."

Said James: “He was unbelievable tonight. You definitely saw his motor was going tonight."

Added Kevin Durant, who chipped in with 34 points: "It was like playing in a playground. I’ve watched him and now I play against him, but to be on his team and see the things that he was doing out there is just amazing."

Russell Westbrook, scored 12 points and Paul added 10 for the West.

After being down by as much as 16 point, James gave his East squad a firm speech. It seemed to work as the East fought back over the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter to narrow the lead to two point with under one minute left in the game.

Leading the way for the East, James produced an MVP performance finishing with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to join Michael Jordan as the only other player with a tripledouble in the All-Star game. Amare Stoudemire also scored 29 for the East, but Dwyane Wade, the MVP of the East's win last year, had to leave with an ankle injury after scoring 14 "I wish the East would've won, then my teammate with the triple-double would have stole (the MVP)," Wade said. "But (Bryant) deserved it."

Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com.

(Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant won a record-tying fourth All-Star Game most valuable player award as he led the Western Conference to a 148-143 victory in front of his home fans on Sunday.

Bryant electrified a celebrity-filled Staples Center crowd with an array of slam dunks and led all players with 37 points and 14 rebounds.

"I wanted to come out and play hard and put on a good show," said Bryant, who joins Bob Pettit as the only player to win four All-Star MVP trophies. "It feels great being at home here and playing in front of the home crowd."

LeBron James recorded a triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the East, which pulled to within two points with 72 seconds left to set up an intense finish after a game filled with highlight-reel dunks and trickery.

Laker Pau Gasol scored 17 points and delighted his home fans with a putback that gave the West a four-point lead with under a minute left.

NBA leading scorer Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder poured in 34 points and sealed the victory for the West with a pair of free throw with five seconds to play.

Amare Stoudemire tied a team-high with 29 points for the East, which trailed for virtually the whole game, but every player ended the night looking up at Kobe.

During one dominant sequence in the third, Bryant threw down a two-handed dunk over James then swished a quick three-pointer that drew a roar from the crowd, which included Jay-Z and Beyonce, Hall of Fame players Clyde Drexler and David Robinson as well as Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

"He wanted to win the MVP, he wasn't going to pass the ball. But that's Kobe," Stoudemire said.

The only player drawing cheers equal to Bryant's was Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin, who captured the Slam Dunk Contest a day earlier and finished with eight points.

Boston, the only team to feature four players in the game, put its quartet of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo on the floor together in the first quarter and drew loud boos from the rival Los Angeles crowd.

(Editing by John O'Brien)

By Steve Finley, Special to the BVN –

This years’ edition of the UCLA men’s basketball team is a family affair.

Each week a different player steps up and leads the team. One week it’s Tyler Honeycutt. The next week it’s Reeves Nelson the next week it’s Joshua Smith. As in all families there is usually one sibling that emerges as the leader of the pack. Malcolm Lee is emerging as the leader of this Bruins’ team.

Last week Lee led the Bruins in scoring in both of their victories. He had 25 points against Oregon on Thursday and scored 19 points against Oregon State on Saturday and fouled out of the game with nearly 6 minutes remaining.

Lee is soft spoken and quiet. He leads his team by example. “He brings it every night,” said head coach Ben Howland after the Oregon game. “I could not be happier for an individual than I am for Malcolm when he has success.

He is such a great kid and he is so much fun to coach. He works so hard and all of his teammates love him.”

The Bruins are 18-7 overall and 9-3 in the conference which is good enough for second place behind 20- 4; 9-2 Arizona. The Bruins have bounced backed from last years’ losing record, their first in 40 years.

UCLA improved the team instantly by recruiting a true point guard in Lazeric Jones and junior guard Jerime Anderson has also played well at the point guard position.

Last season Lee had to play point guard which is not his natural position.

Now he can play shooting guard and small forward which helps the overall production of the team. “We are fortunate to have two good point guards,” said Lee. “Now I can slide over to the swing position and that puts me in position to help my teammates offensively and defensively. Last year we were younger. This year we have more experience. We have learned from last years’ mistakes.”

Smith, a 6”5’ junior guard from Riverside’s John W. North high school. says the Bruins are also more athletic this year. “Last year we were forced to play a two-three zone defense which is not the way UCLA plays,” says Lee. “This season we can also get out and run which puts pressure on the other opponent’s defense.”

It’s hard to compare Lee’s game to other players. He has his own style.

“Growing up I was a Kobe (Bryant) fan,” said Lee “ But now people tell me I play like Jamal Crawford (Atlanta Hawks).”

Whoever Lee looks like or plays like he knows he will need to keep playing at an ever increasing level to get the Bruins into the NCAA tournament. “This is definitely not the level I want to play at,” said Lee. “I feel I need to improve on every aspect of my game. I feel like I haven’t peaked yet.”

This week the Bruins travel north to play Stanford on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and California on Sunday at 7 p.m. If UCLA continues to win they will be back in the NCAA tournament.

“This team is capable of surprising the nation, “said Lee. “Coming off a losing season we are always the underdog and we have to put that on our backs and use that as a motivating factor.”

“Last year we felt bad because we felt like we let John Wooden down on his last year on earth,” said Lee. “This year we want to shock the world and win the Pac-10 title and after that everything else will take care of itself.”

Steve Finley is a UCLA Alum and special contributor to the Black Voice News – he can be reached at sfinley50@aol.com

(Reuters) - The San Antonio Spurs are riding high on their grueling "Rodeo Road Trip" after a 100-89 triumph over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday gave the NBA's top team their third consecutive win.

The Spurs, playing the fourth contest of a grueling nine-game road trip while a rodeo occupies their home arena, got 19 points from Tony Parker while DeJuan Blair added 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The win improved their NBA-best record and made them the first team to begin a season 43-8 or better since 1996-97 NBA champions Chicago, who stormed out of the gate with a 45-6 record.

"We can get a lot better," second-year post player Blair told reporters.

"Once all of our players get healthy we'll be where we want at the end of the year. (The road trip) allows us to get serious about the second-half of the season."

San Antonio led 80-78 midway through the fourth quarter before a 9-2 run let them pull away down the stretch.

The Spurs made a trio of three-pointers during the spurt, two from Manu Ginobili and one from Matt Bonner, and finished with 10 on the night to keep the Pistons at bay.

"We had good shots. We were moving the ball very well," Parker said. "Everybody was being aggressive. We had open shots and everybody was making them."

Detroit (19-33) reserve Will Bynum led the home team with 21 points but the Pistons' loss snapped a string of successive victories. Rookie Greg Monroe tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds for Detroit in the losing effort.

Richard Hamilton, who has been at odds with head coach John Kuester, sat out with a sore groin. The veteran guard had played on Saturday for the first time since January 10.

(Editing by Frank Pingue and Peter Rutherford)