16th February, 2020
The National Basketball Association has renamed its NBA All-Star MVP award as the ”Kobe Bryant MVP Award”.
Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner made the announcement on Saturday during a press conference.
“Kobe Bryant is synonymous with NBA All-Star and embodies the spirit of this global celebration of our game,” Silver said. “He always relished the opportunity to compete with the best of the best and perform at the highest level for millions of fans around the world” he said.
The Kobe Bryant MVP Award will be presented on Sunday at the end of the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago. The teams will be captained by LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Team Giannis will wear No. 24 and Team LeBron will wear No. 2, the respective jersey numbers worn by Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.
Before his untimely death, Bryant was an 18-time All-Star who won a record-tying four All-Star Game MVP awards, the NBA said. He was named All-Star Game MVP in 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011. He was the youngest player to ever play in an All-Star Game at 19 years old in 1998.