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 They call him the "King" and it's not with merit. Lebron James took home MVP honors at Sunday's (February 17) All-Star Game in New Orleans and did it in a dazzling performance among the league's elite.
James, along with his Eastern Conference teammates took the win over the West in a 134-124 win, thanks to King James' 27 point performance, which included nine assists and eight rebounds... and everybody agreed. Even the West.
"LeBron is a freight train when he goes to that basket," West coach Byron Scott told the Associated Press. "He's so big and strong, and so quick and powerful. It's hard to stop him when he gets the momentum going like that."
"He's amazing," the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki added. "He's making shots and he almost had a triple-double. Amazing play down the stretch with the dunk. It was a fun game down the stretch and he really took the team on his back."
James put an exclamation mark on his performance at the very end of the game when he threw down a powerful dunk over two defenders to help clinch the win.
"We were down and the game was tied. And I was able to put the finishing touch on it with the dunk and kept the momentum going for us," James said.
It wasn't easy though. Hometown boy, Chris Paul, helped rally the West back into the game, eventually taking the lead for the first time, but James wasn't having it. He took the game into his own hands -- with the help of Ray Allen who scored five threes throughout the game -- and definitely earned MVP honors.
"The East did a great job man, we got a big lead in the first half and we withstood their run in the fourth quarter," James said after accepting the MVP trophy. "We made plays down the stretch."
The MVP honor is James' second during the All-Star Game. At the 2006 All-Star Game he became the youngest All-Star MVP winner at just 21 years of age.
He is currently 23 years old.
Others coming up big were the East's Ray Allen who ended with 28 points, 15 of them threes, and Dwight Howard with 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
On the West, Chris Paul had to be the pick for MVP if they won. He ended with 16 points, 14 assists and four steals; while first time All-Star Brandon Roy (of the Trailblazers) had 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
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