Giannis Antetokounmpo won the 2021 NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award as he played a crucial part in team LeBron’s victory over team Durant in the 2021 NBA All- Star match-up.
Giannis was selected among the starters for team LeBron alongside the captain, LeBron James, who had 5,922,554 fan votes.
The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks completed the starter list for team LeBron while the likes of Damian Lillard, Jaylen Brown and Paul George were also named as the reserves.
For team, Durant, Kevin Durant was not available to captain the team as was Anthony Davis who is nursing an Achilles injury. Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard and Jayson Tatum were thus selected as the starters for team Durant.
Both sides suffered setbacks prior to the game as Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons were ruled out for team LeBron and Durant respectively due to the NBA’s contact tracing protocols.
Team LeBron won all but one of the four quarters, winning 39-40 in the first quarter, 41-60 in the second, 45-46 in the third; and losing 25-24 in the last. They secured a blowout victory of 150-170 on the night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the game’s MVP, led the way with 35 points on 16-of-16 shooting which is a record for most makes without a miss over an entire game.
🏆 Giannis Antetokounmpo wins the 2021 NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award! #KiaAllStarMVP@Giannis_An34: 35 PTS on 16-16 shooting (#NBAAllStar record for most makes without a miss over an entire game) pic.twitter.com/HuNsuTtp3P
— NBA (@NBA) March 8, 2021
The win on Sunday night makes it the fourth time that team LeBron have won the NBA All-Star match up.
The 2021 NBA All-Star game climaxed the first round of the season, with the second round expected to run through 10 March to 16th May 2021.
