A Bunch Of Strange Things Just Went Down At NBA All-Star Media Day

Welcome to Kobe Bryant Appreciation Weekend -- the NBA’s three-day, midseason circus formerly known as its All-Star break. While the best and brightest of the NBA family comes together every February for the dunk contest, the three-point contest and the star-studded game itself, this year’s iteration of the festivities seems less centered than ever on the actual on-court activities, with a large portion of Friday’s media day focused, instead, on the fireworks surrounding Bryant's last All-Star rodeo.

Despite his season-long lull in the stat lines, Bryant ran laps around his competition when it came to All-Star voting -- the 37 year old had about 285,000 more votes than reigning MVP Stephen Curry and about 800,000 more than LeBron James. But while this year’s All-Star weekend has been wonky from the start, it got even more so on Friday, as media day quickly devolved into a free-for-all, with Bryant getting the ultimate rock star treatment.