- With the East trailing 151-149 in the closing stages, LeBron James passed up a potential game-winner twice
- LeBron turned the ball over on the second occasion and the East went on to lose 152-149
- Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony seemed to call him out on the court for not shooting
LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history, and many would argue he is simply the greatest. LeBron has an incredible resume with four titles, four Finals MVPs, and four MVPs, and he also became the all-time leading scorer in NBA history earlier this year.
James’ detractors, though, have always found ways to criticize him, and one of the common ones has been that LeBron shies away from taking the last shot. That was on full display at the 2012 All-Star Game, as James twice passed up a potential game-winner, which led to Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony calling him out.
LeBron revealed afterward that Kobe was indeed telling him to let it fly, “Yeah, he (Bryant) was telling me to shoot it,” James said, via Yahoo Sports. “I wish I could have that one back.”
Kobe and Carmelo would have no doubt shot it, but that just wasn’t how LeBron was built. James has always been a willing passer, but in that situation, he should have shot it, as he himself admitted. Blake Griffin stole the ball when he passed it the second time, and the West went on to win 152-149.
While Michael Malone described the 2023 All-Star Game as the worst game of basketball ever played, the 2012 one wasn’t quite that bad. We saw some big performances from the big stars, and it went down to the wire.
Top Performers For The Eastern All-Stars:
LeBron James: 36 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists
Dwyane Wade: 24 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals
Deron Williams: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Carmelo Anthony: 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals
Dwight Howard: 9 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Top Performers For The Western All-Stars:
Kevin Durant: 36 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Kobe Bryant: 27 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals
Blake Griffin: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Russell Westbrook: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Kevin Love: 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals
Kevin Durant would win All-Star Game MVP, while Kobe Bryant surpassed Michael Jordan to become the all-time leader for points in All-Star games that night. LeBron has since passed him and currently sits at the top.
While this sequence was some great ammunition for LeBron’s critics, he has actually been quite clutch during his career. James has made the most clutch shots in the last 30 seconds in the playoffs since 1997. LeBron has also made seven game-winning buzzer-beaters, as per Basketball Reference, with only Michael Jordan (9), Kobe Bryant (8), and Joe Johnson (8) hitting more.
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