Rose gets 11 as West beats East 148-143

What would it have been like if LeBron James came to the Bulls last summer?

Let me say despite what you may have heard or believe, Derrick Rose did nothing to discourage James. But had he come to Chicago, Rose might have turned into a shooting guard.

Because for much of Sunday’s fairly mundane NBA All-Star game won by the Western Conference 148-143, James took the ball and attacked with Rose off to the side as a spectator.

Rose finished with 11 points and five assists in 30 minutes as a starter as James became the second All-Star after Michael Jordan to record a triple-double with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Kobe Bryant won the MVP award, his record tying fourth in an All-Star game, with 37 points and 14 rebounds. It was something of a tradition back in the 80’s for the team to try to get the hometown player the MVP award as Michael Jordan got it in 1988 in Chicago, Tom Chambers got it when it was in Seattle and John Stockton and Karl Malone when it was in Salt Lake. But teammates usually planned that out. Kobe just went after it.

“You could tell he started out from the start he wanted to get the MVP,” said Stoudemire in a little dig at Bryant. “He was not passing the ball, at all. But that’s Kobe.”