NBA All-Star – Was the next face of the league at All-Star Weekend? LeBron, Adam Silver weigh in

INDIANAPOLIS — MIDWAY THROUGH the second quarter of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, LeBron James secured an outlet go together with his left hand and, in one easy movement, looped a go over the head of Damian Lillard and into the fingers of Western Conference teammate Paul George.

After one dribble, George slammed the ball off the court docket towards the basket, permitting it to briefly hover in entrance of an unguarded rim. James got here sprinting down the proper facet of the court docket, grabbed the ball and slammed it through the hoop with two fingers.

It was one of solely a handful of familiar highlight moments from James in his document-setting twentieth All-Star look. The league’s oldest participant largely stayed in the background, scoring eight factors in 14 first-half minutes earlier than sitting the relaxation of the West’s 211-186 defeat with a balky left ankle that has troubled him for many of the season.

Still, that James earned his beginning spot in the league’s midseason showcase held six weeks after he turned 39 was the newest reminder of his era-lengthy maintain on the sport — a spot the NBA’s all-time main scorer stated he by no means thought of reaching when he arrived in the league as the prime draft choose 21 years in the past.

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PG13 bounces it as much as LeBron for spotlight jam

Paul George and LeBron James join for the two-handed dunk in the second quarter.

“When I came into the league, I didn’t look at myself as the face of anything,” James stated Sunday before the game.

“I didn’t look at myself as the next Michael [Jordan], or the successor to Michael. When I came into the league, the first thing I thought about was, ‘I have to start over now.’

“I had constructed my rep in highschool from my freshman 12 months to my senior 12 months, from being a 14-12 months-previous freshman that was 6-2, 180 kilos and I used to be like, ‘OK, nicely how can I make a reputation for myself at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s,’ all the solution to my senior 12 months the place I used to be the No. 1 participant in the nation. And that is the similar factor I did after I received drafted.”

But James’ 20th All-Star Game appearance served another reminder: Someday soon, arguably the greatest player in NBA history will cede the stage.

Who will be the one to take his place? The consensus among several of the games’ biggest stars — including James himself — is that there isn’t a clear answer.

“I do not suppose you simply say, ‘OK, nicely, this man’s the next particular person,” James said. “You have to only let it occur organically and see what occurs. But we’ve got some nice, nice gamers in this league that may carry something in the event that they put their minds the place they need it.”

THIS ISN’T THE first time Adam Silver has had to oversee a succession.

Silver, now the NBA’s commissioner, was in charge of the league’s entertainment arm in 1998 when Michael Jordan retired after completing a second three-peat with the Chicago Bulls. After he drove the league to record-setting ratings and popularity throughout the 1990s, Jordan’s departure created a massive void.

“That query usually got here up,” Silver said Saturday during his annual All-Star news conference. “Who’s going to be the next Michael Jordan?

“And I remember at the time, [former NBA commissioner] David Stern was saying whoever demonstrates on the court that they should be. That’s what’s so wonderful about the competition in the league.”

When Tyrese Haliburton — who jokingly referred to himself as the “prom king of All-Star Weekend” as the star of the hometown Indiana Pacers — was requested for his prediction, he espoused the same opinion.

“There’s a lot of different guys it could be,” Haliburton stated. “We’ll see. To be the face of the league, winning has to come with that. Whatever young guy takes that charge and is winning moving forward, that’s probably who it will be.”

Celtics wing Jayson Tatum agreed with that evaluation.

“We win a championship,” Tatum stated Saturday with a smile, “[and] I’ve got something to say about it. I know that.”

No one has a greater understanding of that than Golden State Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry, one of the few gamers to rival James in stature and recognition. Ten years in the past, Curry performed in his first All-Star Game as a 24-12 months-previous, and had performed in the playoffs one time in his 5 NBA seasons.

At the time, the concept of Curry successful a pair of MVP awards, 4 championships and showing in six NBA Finals over the next eight seasons would’ve been seen as nothing quick of a fantasy.

“There’s a lot of guys to pick from in this group of 24 that are here,” Curry stated. “You see Luka [Doncic], Ant [Edwards], Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], guys that are really coming into their prime, and they’re highly decorated already as All-Stars and All-NBA guys.

“I believe the extra you perceive the authenticity round it, and like me and Bron and KD, have performed it and tried to try this in our manner, the place it’d look completely different for various guys. But the league is in fairly good fingers relating to younger expertise that I believe will get it and understands the magnitude of the platform all of us have.”

All of that, although, nonetheless would not reply the basic query.

And it was noteworthy that, at any time when anybody was requested to provide a solution, they shortly rattled off a sequence of names: Doncic, Edwards, Gilgeous-Alexander, Tatum and Haliburton have been all talked about by title by completely different gamers. So, too, have been Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell.

“There’s a ton of young talent,” stated Orlando Magic ahead Paolo Banchero, one other contender for the honor. “But these older guys are still elite, so you have to compete.

“You received to go after them in order to catch up. But our time goes to come back finally.”

WHILE A BUNCH of players were touted this weekend as potential successors to James, there is one who stands out — both literally and figuratively: 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.

“For him, the most vital factor, I believe, all through his profession goes to be well being,” Giannis Antetokounmpo stated. “Because, if he has well being, he has all the things. You know he’ll dominate on the court docket as a result of he is unguardable. You can not guard him one-on-one. I do not know when you can guard him two versus one or three versus one. We’ve tried, and we could not. So much of folks round the NBA have tried, and so they could not.

“As long as Victor is healthy, the league is his. LeBron is kind of like that. He’s close to the end of his career and he retired, but we have to deal with this problem now moving forward.”

As a excessive schooler, James was splashed on the cowl of Sports Illustrated with the headline of “The Chosen One.” Wembanyama, in the meantime, had been charted as the No. 1 choose for the previous a number of years out of France, and the league broadcast many of his video games final season on its platforms in anticipation of his first NBA season.

And, like James did as a rookie, Wembanyama carries himself with the poise of a veteran — and a self-assuredness that he is succesful of reaching his goals. That’s why the Spurs phenom did not hesitate when requested if being a face of the NBA is one thing he has envisioned.

“Of course,” Wembanyama stated. “And it’s something I’ve been working on for years, because being labeled as one of the faces of the league is not primarily basketball, but also, your image in front of everyone.”

Wembanyama arrived in the league this season as simply the newest of the younger worldwide stars who’ve dominated the sport in current years. The previous 5 MVPs have been gained by worldwide gamers, a trend that will likely continue this season.

“I would say the league is in fantastic hands,” Silver stated. “From the time that Michael retired to now, look at the magnitude of the pool of international players coming into this league. Look at the amount of basketball that’s being played on a global basis.

“I believe it is, once more, that these new gamers aren’t anointed. They exhibit to the world, they exhibit to the league that they should be considered in that very same uncommon place as gamers like Michael and Kobe [Bryant] and LeBron and others.

“Let’s just watch.”