Bryant Proves the Best

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 18 - Beneath the showgirl headdresses, the flashing strobe lights and Wayne Newton's makeup, there had to be a game somewhere. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Dwyane Wade's All-Star weekend duties included starting a clothing line and dedicating a learning center. More Photos

With the N.B.A. All-Star weekend appearing for the first time in a non-N.B.A. city, in a city billed as the entertainment capital of the world, it seemed appropriate that the dunks deflated the drama Sunday night.

But leave it to the Lakers' showman, Kobe Bryant , to find meaning in an exhibition and inspiration from a weekend mingling with legends from other eras.

Bryant will leave Las Vegas with the trophy as the All-Star Game's most valuable player. His fierce reverse dunk with 30 seconds left finished off his line of 31 points, 6 assists and 6 steals, which led the West to a 153-132 victory that snapped a two-year losing streak to the East.

"The thing about Kobe, he's got a competitive edge to him that you can just sense, you can just feel," said Phoenix Coach Mike D'Antoni, who led the West team. "He was the first guy, when the lead got down from 30 or so, that said, 'Come on, put the hammer on them.' He's going to play hard every time he's on the floor."

Bryant last won the All-Star M.V.P. award in 2002, in his hometown, Philadelphia, where he also scored 31 points. The fans booed him on that occasion. This one will be more special to him, he said, if only because of the behind-the-scenes moments.

Bryant joined Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter as judges of the dunk contest Saturday night, an event that paled in comparison with Sunday night's dunkfest, led by Bryant , Amare Stoudemire and Vince Carter.

But Bryant got a charge out of bonding with the legends Saturday. "We were pretty much talking trash all the time," he said. "It was unbelievable, these guys are in the same room and we start comparing eras, comparing sneaker technologies, hand size, who can palm a basketball.

"As a kid I never, ever thought I would be in the back chopping it up with Dr. J and Mike and Dominique Wilkins. That's something I'll remember forever."

Saturday night might have been fun, but Bryant was all business Sunday. He spoke about inciting his teammates to play defense in the final eight minutes, so as not to let the East come back.

"We're professionals and extremely competitive," Bryant said. "Nobody wants to lose three in a row, no matter where it is."

With Bryant leading the way, he connected two different eras by enabling the West to tie the All-Star record for points by a team in regulation, set in 1961 and 1992, each time by the West.

"When you're watching him, he's electrifying," Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas said of Bryant . "He was playing like it was a real game, a playoff game. The whole team was playing that way."

Arenas spontaneously dunked off a trampoline during a timeout and was glad, in retrospect, that he did not injure himself for the second half of the season.

As the best point guards in the game, Phoenix Suns Steve Nash and the Nets' Jason Kidd, sat in street clothes, nursing injuries, the game unraveled into an individual clinic. Even Miami's Shaquille O'Neal, the entertainer, took part.

He decided to become a point center with the East trailing by 25 points in the fourth quarter, but his cross-over, pull-up jumper over Utah's Mehmet Okur clanked off the side of the rim. It was a fitting metaphor for the game.

The better All-Star show seemed to be in the stands, with celebrities like Prince sitting courtside, next to Dave Chappelle, down the row from Steve Carell and Harold Ramis, across the court from Queen Latifah, Ellen Pompeo, Cameron Diaz, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and the former Nevada-Las Vegas coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Ron Artest, a guest of his Sacramento Kings owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, was also in the stands. He was shaking hands and signing autographs.

The most-hyped player on the Las Vegas strip leading up to the game, Dwyane Wade, had a quiet night, finishing with 10 points. LeBron James led the East with 28 points.

Carter connected on a few dunks, but, he, too, was subdued. Will he still be wearing a Nets uniform after the Feb. 22 trading deadline?

The Nets have been shopping both him and Kidd, trying to ascertain their value on the market. Bryant knows Kidd's value, especially since he has heard that the Lakers have expressed interest in trading for him.

"Nobody's approached me on it, but it's still exciting," Bryant said this weekend. "With a young team like ours, if you have the opportunity to bring in a player like Kidd, you have to look at that."

Bryant played with very few peers on a night made for superstars. Stoudemire had the second-best performance, finishing with 29 points and 9 rebounds, showing that he has definitively returned from knee surgery that knocked him out of most of last season.

Perhaps in the playoffs, Bryant 's LA Lakers will meet the Suns again, with Stoudemire on the court. It was no wonder that D'Antoni put Bryant back in the end of the game, not wanting to provoke thoughts of revenge.

"We do face him a lot of times," D'Antoni said. "But no, he deserved it, because the guy played hard every second."

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