LeBron James grounded, looked to the lane ahead of him, cocked the ball back in his right hand as he jumped, and slammed it through the rim with force. His first appearance in an All-Star Game was in 2004. He had committed the act in Indianapolis on Sunday night, twenty.

By defeаting the West 211-186, the Eаst set recоrds fоr the mоst pоints scоred by а teаm аs well аs the mоst pоints scоred by bоth teаms. аlthоugh Jаmes аcknоwledged thаt mоre wоrk hаs tо be dоne by the NBа аnd plаyers tо decide whо will plаy in the аll-Stаr Gаme, his recоrd-breаking 20th аppeаrаnce wаs аlreаdy nоtewоrthy. “As a child who loved basketball, watched the NBA All-Star weekend, and attended the Sunday game, I recall having aspirations and visions that if I could play the sport at a high level and give it my all, I might just be able to be a part of that game someday,” James said before the game. “It has been an incredible honor to step onto the court and compete annually with the best players in the world throughout my career.” He played fourteen minutes in the first half and scored eight points before giving up possession to the rest of the West squad. In an attempt to tighten up the competition while cutting back on superfluous material, the league switched back to the conventional East-West format. Nevertheless, Sunday night it became apparent that it would be more free throws than competitive basketball. .. “I believe we sat down with the players and listened to them before ruling that we must, in a sense, return to basketball,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on Saturday. “The game itself is the main focus.” “That is how we will ultimately be judged.” The best play of the game on Sunday might have come early in the second half when the rim stopped Luka Doncic’s attempt at a one-handed alley-oop. The Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP, Damian Lillard, attempted a half-court three-pointer as a result of the lapse in focus. The trademark mix of skill and carelessness that characterizes the NBA All-Star Game is best shown in this sequence. Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, and Reggie Miller went to center court to start the game. Moreover, James approached Robertson for a long hug during the player introductions.