Team Giannis defeated the Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James’ team 184-175 in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Sunday night, Team James’ perfect 5-0 record as an NBA All-Star Game captain came to an end.
All-Star captain and Milwaukee Bucks player Giannis Antetokounmpo joked after getting the trophy, “Winner, winner chicken dinner.” A weekend-long display of the league’s best players that was staged in Utah for the first time in thirty years came to a conclusion with the 72nd All-Star Game.
"Winner, winner chicken dinner!"
Giannis after his team beat Team LeBron 🤣pic.twitter.com/sf37P1mUou
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 20, 2023
For their respective charities—Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah for Team LeBron and Raise the Future for Team Giannis—both teams competed in order to raise close to $1 million.
Jayson Tatum, a forward with the Boston Celtics, finished the game with a game-high 55 points, breaking the previous All-Star Game record. Tatum received the game’s MVP award. When questioned about the significance of breaking the record, Tatum responded, “It means the world.
“You think of all the legends and great players to play in this game and in all honesty, records are meant to be broken,” Tatum said on the TNT broadcast after the game. “So, I’ll hold it for as long as I can but I’m certain someone will come along in a couple of years and try to break it.”
James, who earlier this month shattered the NBA scoring record, was recognized by the league during halftime. Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Lakers, who now hold the second and third spots on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, respectively, joined him.
According to the TNT broadcast, James reportedly hit his hand on the rim in the first half and was required to leave the game with a hand injury. With four assists and 13 points overall, he had a solid night. “I’ll be fine. I don’t think it’s too much to worry about, but for precautionary reasons I had to take the rest of the night off,” James remarked after the game.
A celebrity all-star game featuring rappers 21 Savage and Cordae, actor Simu Liu, tennis player Frances Tiafoe, NFL quarterback DK Metcalf, singers Nicky Jam, Janelle Monáe, and Ozuna kicked off the weekend’s contests on Friday.
Ryan Smith, the governor and honorary captain of the Utah Jazz, and three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade served as the players’ coaches. The Rising Stars showdowns, which featured the league’s top rookie and sophomore players, were played on Friday as well. Four teams participated.
A Skills Challenge, a Three-point Contest, and a Dunk Contest were on the schedule for Saturday. At the conclusion of a week in which he signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers and scored a perfect 50 on three of his four dunks, Mac McClung was named the NBA Slam Dunk champion.
