Our weekly look at four topics — players, issues, numbers, trends — that are impacting and, in some cases, changing the game — All-Star edition.
First Quarter: Kobe the ambassador
LeBron James showed mercy, being fully aware of a reporter’s fumbled words but genuine intentions when she called him “Kobe” during the postgame presser Sunday night, while preparing to ask him his favorite memory of Kobe Bryant.
“I don’t mind being Kobe this weekend,” James said. “My mom might not like it, but I’m OK with it.”
James now takes Bryant’s place, albeit in such an unwilling manner, as basketball’s greatest evangelist.