Can Heaven Wait, Mr. Jordan? Bulls Star Thrills All-Star Crowd As Nba Pits Present Vs. Future

Michael Jordan walked away from his “last” All-Star game with the victory, the adulation and the MVP trophy.

It was a fitting finale - if that’s what it really was - for the greatest player ever to play the game.

“Without a doubt, I think I’m the best basketball player I can be right now,” Jordan said after winning his third career All-Star MVP award as the East beat the West 135-114 Sunday.

“This day was going to happen sooner or later,” Jordan said. “If I walk away from the game, I want to walk out knowing I can still play.”

He certainly can.

And he sounded like he certainly will retire.

In a crossroads game between All-Stars of this generation and the next before a celebrity-studded crowd in the arena known as the “Mecca of Basketball,” Jordan seized the spotlight and faced off mano-a-mano against Kobe Bryant, the youngest All-Star in NBA history, to the delight of all.

Jordan, called the “All-Star of All-Stars” by commissioner David Stern as he received his award, led all scorers with 23 points. Bryant led the West with 18.

But it was so much more than the 34-year-old Jordan outscoring the 19-year-old Bryant by five points.

It was the greatest ever and the youngest All-Star ever.

It was Jordan clearing everyone out so he could take Bryant one-on-one, then losing the kid with a head fake and scoring on a finger roll that left Bryant grinning in shame.

It was Bryant coming right back at him, drilling a pair of 3-pointers and barely executing a behind-the-back fast break dribble ending in perhaps the first transition hook shot in an All-Star game since the game was last played in New York 30 years ago.

It was Jordan popping a jumper in Bryant’s face, then doing it again from the other side of the court.

It was Bryant pulling a crossover dribble on Jordan, who bent but didn’t break and did not allow himself to get burned.

It was Jordan jamming and Bryant outjamming, especially on a 360-degree spin midway through the first quarter that served notice that this would be an All-Star game worth watching the whole way though.

It was Jordan playing almost the entire fourth quarter while Bryant stayed seated in what appeared to be an act of deference.

And finally, it was Jordan of the Bulls and Bryant of the Lakers embracing at center court after the final buzzer, a snapshot moment worth remembering forever.

“I really didn’t expect to come in here and win the MVP award,” Jordan said. “I just wanted to make sure Kobe didn’t dominate me.

“It was a good battle. It was fun. He attacked,” Jordan said. “The hype was me vs. him. I knew I wasn’t 100 percent and he was, and he was biting at the bit. I was just glad that I was able to fight him off.”

West coach George Karl said he held Bryant out of the game for the final 18 minutes because he wanted to give the other All-Stars their fair share of minutes.

But it appeared to be an effort to leave the final act of the play to Jordan, who reiterated before and after the game that he will retire if the Chicago Bulls do not retain coach Phil Jackson.

“I’ll say it once more. If Phil is not in Chicago, I’m not playing. Nowhere,” Jordan said. “How many times do you want me to say it?”

The pace of the game stayed brisk almost the entire way, the East never surrendering a comfortable lead it built in the first half.

Jordan, who battled the flu the past few days, helped ice the game after checking back early in the fourth, hitting a 3-pointer and a finger-roll that preceded Reggie Miller’s 3-pointer from right in front of Spike Lee’s seat in an 18-1 run.

From there on out it was wide open, the only suspense being whether Bryant would return and whether Jordan would try to take him once more.

It didn’t work out that way, but it really didn’t have to.

Bryant finished 7 for 16 from the field with six rebounds and two steals.

Jordan was 10 for 18 with eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.

“We knew he as going to come out and play,” Penny Hardaway said. “When he plays, he’s going to go all out. And he showed what he can do today.

“I think this was his last one.”.

East 135, West 114 At New York

West (114) - Malone 2-4 0-0 4, Garnett 6-11 0-0 12, O’Neal 5-10 2-4 12, Bryant 7-16 2-2 18, Payton 3-7 0-0 7, Baker 3-12 2-2 8, Jones 7-19 1-2 15, Robinson 3-4 9-10 15, Richmond 4-11 0-0 8, Kidd 0-1 0-0 0, Duncan 1-4 0-0 2, Van Exel 5-14 2-2 13. Totals 46-113 18-22 114.

East (135) - Hill 7-11 0-0 15, Kemp 5-10 2-2 12, Mutombo 4-5 1-2 9, Jordan 10-18 2-3 23, A.Hardaway 3-5 0-0 6, T. Hardaway 3-8 0-0 8, Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Smits 3-7 4-4 10, Miller 6-8 1-2 14, Rice 6-14 0-0 16, Smith 6-12 0-0 14, Walker 2-8 0-0 4. Totals 57-109 10-13 135.

West 25 33 33 23 - 114

East 33 34 34 34 - 135

3-Point goals-West 4-23 (Bryant 2-3, Payton 1-3, Van Exel 1-6, Garnett 0-1, Duncan 0-1, Richmond 0-2, Jones 0-7), East 11-25 (Rice 4-6, T.Hardaway 2-5, Smith 2-5, Hill 1-1, Jordan 1-1, Miller 1-2, Kemp 0-1, A.Hardaway 0-1, Walker 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-West 69 (Jones, Duncan 11), East 57 (Kemp 11). Assists-West 34 (Payton 13), East 32 (Jordan 8). Total fouls-West 9, East 13. A-18,323.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BEST OF THE BEST Recent All-Star Game MVPs: 1990 Magic Johnson, LA Lakers 1991 Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 1992 Magic Johnson, LA Lakers 1993 Karl Malone and John Stockton, Utah 1994 Scottie Pippen, Chicago 1995 Mitch Richmond, Sacramento 1996 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1997 Glen Rice, Charlotte 1998 Michael Jordan, Chicago