SALT LAKE CITY — A timeout in the opening quarter of Jabari Smith Jr.'s first career game against Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James offered the Houston Rockets rookie an icebreaking opportunity.
As the league introduced its Rising Stars on All-Star weekend, three participants, Smith, Scotty Pippen Jr. and A.J. Griffin, are sons of players whose careers also coincided with James' two-decade run. A fourth, Jalen Duren, is the first NBA player born after James debuted for the Cleveland Cavaliers in October 2003.
"It's wild to grow up watching LeBron at 6 years old, and then my first time in Staples, growing up a huge Lakers fan, to actually play him when he's about to break the scoring record shows the greatness and longevity he's had in the league," said Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Jalen Williams, whose 25 points in victory put a damper on the night"That's one of those records we don't think will be touched in our lifetime, so it was cool to be on the court for that.
"It was pretty much a normal game," said Mathurin."I think a lot of people pretty much overreacted over the 'famous' quote, but it was great, to be honest, playing against LeBron James, who's currently leading the league in [career] points, and ... who might retire as the biggest basketball legend of all time."
"I was a Kobe guy," said Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, a South Florida native who was 8 when James joined the Miami Heat."Of course, growing up, LeBron was always the main guy and my brother's favorite player, so that's probably why I became a Kobe guy, because I just wanted to go with the rival."
Sentiments from the game's Rising Stars suggested that what the players who grew up watching James will remember most are not the championships or his unparalleled combination of brawn and athleticism, but rather the example he has set in his relentless pursuit of prolonged greatness. James was dubbed the"," tattooed it on his back, and even in the face of doubt and criticism he lived up to the hype.
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