Oklahoma City Thunder rookie point guard Russell Westbrook exploded for 41 points to help lead the West to a 163-158 victory over the East in the NBA All-Star game at Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 15.
His performance was only the third in NBA history that a player scored more than 40 points in an All-Star game, following the footsteps of basketball greats Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan, en route to being awarded the 2015 All-Star MVP.
Westbrooks’ teammates in the West and also the other All-Stars in the East were more than happy for the MVP performance of the diminutive but very athletic Oklahoma City Thunder point guard.
He also scored 27 points during the first half, which was an NBA All-Star record. Ably backstopping him in the West in terms of scoring was James Harden of the Houston Rockets who chipped in 29 points.
Coming in with a lot of energy
Westbrook checked in to the game past midway of the first frame and the energy was written all over him. He was obviously just trying to redeem himself from missing last year’s All-Star game due to a knee injury.
He told reporters after the game that he finds it a blessing to be able to get back to the NBA All-Star game after a one-year absence. Westbrook said that he does not want to be unable to play in any game, especially an All-Star game, so to get a chance to play and show his talents in a game that he truly loves is definitely a blessing.
He was 16 for 28 on the floor including 5 of 9 from the three-point range in just 25 and a half minutes of playing time.
His 41 was just one point shy of the all-time All-Star scoring record set by Wilt Chamberlain in 1962, details Yahoo! Sports.
All praises from the King
LeBron James, who scored 30 points and led the East team, only had praises for Westbrook when the point guard was named the All-Star MVP.
He says that Russell Westbrook is one of the best and most gifted talents that the game of basketball has ever seen. He added that Westbrook goes out every night and proves that and his energy during the All-Star game was very obvious right from the get-go.
Ask for his advice on the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard, James said that he does not need to tell anything to Wetbrook because he is doing great as he is now and that he should be just be as he is.
If there was any consolation to the East, James’ 30 points was actually more than enough to eclipse the total 262 points of Michael Jordan in NBA All-Stars and put him in second place in the NBA All-Star top scorers list with a total of 278 points, just behind the 280 of Kobe Bryant.
So next year’s NBA All-Star game would really be fun to see since it could very well be the last for Kobe Bryant while James, currently 30 years old, still have many years ahead of him in the NBA.
But it is already very likely that James will eventually get the record as the player with the most number of points scored in NBA All-Star games before he retires from the sport.