After six years, the old format of East vs. West finally returned to the NBA All-Star game as the main event of the annual All-Star Weekend in Indiana.
The All-Star draft was gone and players of each conference became teammates again.
The East All-Stars whipped the Western Conference, 211-186.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard stole the spotlight from Indiana home crowd favorite Tyrese Haliburton as he was adjudged the All-Star MVP after firing 39 points.
The weekend was also a time for All-Stars to take a break from the grueling season and look back.
First timers Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic and Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks shared their favorite memory of the Philippines when they played for Team USA last year at the FIBA World Cup.
"The best part of being in Manila was probably just being around the guys," Banchero recalled. "I’ve got a cousin out there as well, Chris, so I got to see him [after] a a long time but other than it was good. The people there are very nice too.”
Brunson, meanwhile, took note of Filipinos' passion and love for the sport.
"It is [a] ridiculously outwardly basketball city," he added. "It was really cool to just walk outside the hotel and thinking I’m not going to get bothered and all of a sudden. Everyone just loves basketball and so that was really cool and I really respect their fan base.”
Bam Adebayo who became a last minute replacement as the starting center of the East gave his thoughts on the Heat culture instilled by Filipino-American head coach Erik Spoelstra.
“He’s going to be a part of the culture too until he leaves this earth," said Adebayo of Spoelstra. "He bleeds that Heat culture mentality. He has that mindset and everybody above him understands his mindset and what he’s trying to get done."
Players will have some days of rest before the start of the second half of the season, before the home stretch of the regular season begins and contenders train their sights on the NBA playoffs.