The biggest highlight from James came when Clippers forward Paul George bounce passed an alley-oop to James in the second quarter.
Before the NBA All-Star Game even started, Lakers star LeBron James mentioned during his pregame media availability that he’d play limited minutes in the league’s premier exhibition – especially in light of the left ankle injury he’s nursing.
This came to fruition, with James only playing in the first half of the Western Conference’s 211-186 loss to the Eastern Conference Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“I’m feeling OK,” James said. “I wasn’t going to put too much pressure on the game [Sunday] for me physically. I want to try to be as healthy as I can be. This last part of the season is very important for us. I got to make sure of that.”
James finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 14 first-half minutes – mostly getting his points in transition in an All-Star Game that once again lacked defensive intensity from the opening tip.
The biggest highlight from James came when Clippers forward Paul George bounce passed an alley-oop to James in the second quarter – a familiar play for Lakers fans in recent months, as it was similar to the bounce pass alley-oops that D’Angelo Russell has thrown to James a couple of times.
He also threw down a tomahawk dunk in the first quarter that led to a still-frame photo that was reminiscent of a dunk he had in his first All-Star Game 19 years ago.
“It’s super surreal and super crazy and just very humbled and blessed that I can be able to still perform on the stage at this point in my career and be able to do some of the things that I did 20 years ago,” James said.
