NEW ORLEANS — Don’t expect Kobe Bryant to pull a Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera whenever he chooses to retire.
“I don’t know,” Bryant said before Sunday night’s All-Star Game when asked if he’d thought about when he’s going to retire. “I don’t know. I’m not … you know, personality, my personality is, I don’t really want the rocking chair before the game. It would drive me crazy.”
Bryant then smiled and said, “I’ll probably just pop up and vanish.”
Bryant has all but vanished from the NBA this season, after initially missing the first month of the season recovering from surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon, only to then suffer a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee in early December, just six games into his return.
Due to his immense popularity, Bryant was still voted onto his 16th All-Star team despite his limited involvement this season. He was replaced by New Orleans forward Anthony Davis, and said he hopes to be healthy enough to play in one again in the future.
“I hope so,” Bryant said in a pregame press conference. “I hope so. When you play in an All-Star Game, that means you’re one of the best players in the world. So, it’s obviously a big goal of mine to be there.”
In between the first and second quarters, the NBA celebrated the 80th birthday of Bill Russell. The weekend has been a celebration of Russell, who was born in West Monroe, La. — located a few hours north of New Orleans — and whose birthday was last Tuesday.
Magic Johnson led the crowd in singing happy birthday to the Celtics legend, and then had LeBron James and Bryant lead the Eastern and Western Conference teams, respectively, over to Russell’s courtside seat and shake his hand.
“This was by far one of the most memorable All-Star weekends,” Carmelo Anthony said. “Honoring Bill Russell, getting the whole arena to sing happy birthday to him … it was a great atmosphere. “It was good for us to be part of that celebration. Bill Russell was one of the guys who paved the way for guys like myself, and the guys that were out there tonight. It was just great to be a part of that.”
When Kyrie Irving went to accept his MVP award, James and some of the other previous MVP winners there offered advice about holding up the trophy to the crowd, as Irving was expecting to be interviewed first.
“They were just telling me the proper All-Star pose,” Irving said with a smile. “They were telling me to hold it above my head and show the fans.
“I honestly thought they did the interview first. … I guess I was wrong.”
Irving was also asked if he was concerned about potentially losing the MVP award when he passed the ball to Anthony in the game’s final moments, giving Anthony a shot at further breaking the 3-point record by making his ninth of the game, a shot Anthony wound up missing.
“He was hot the whole game,” Irving said. “I was just going to give him the ball to shoot.
“I was hoping he made it so I could get another assist.” *
East coach Frank Vogel could be heard on the broadcast feed at halftime telling his team they needed to play defense, something his Pacers are well known for.
How did they take the message?
“They all laughed at me,” Vogel said. “I did say it with a half-smile, and they all laughed at me and I said, ‘OK. I see what you’re saying.’ ”