Anthony Davis named 2017 All-Star Game MVP

In a record-breaking scoring night, New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis was named MVP of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.

The West defeated the East, 192-182 in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. There was a ton of scoring in this game, with two players on the West achieving over 40 points apiece.

One of those guys was New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis. Not only did he eclipse 40 points in front of his home crowd, but he set an NBA All-Star Game record with an absurd 52 points.

Davis broke an All-Star Game scoring record that was previously held by Basketball Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain. Anytime a player breaks a record that held by Chamberlain is a huge deal. Davis achieved this impressive display of scoring on 26-of-39 shooting.

While he attempted four three-pointers, all 26 of his buckets were of the two-point variety. Davis did all of this in 31 minutes, constantly getting force-fed the rock by his West teammates. He would say during his award presentation that he told West head coach Steve Kerr that he wanted to try for 50 points at some point in the third quarter.

Seemingly every possession in the second half for the West featured either a Davis slam or a brilliant bucket by Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook. Westbrook had his shot at breaking Chamberlain’s record, too, but had to settle for 41 points.

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Davis was able to dethrone Westbrook as the two-time reigning All-Star Game MVP. Many though that Westbrook was going to make it a trifecta, but Davis thrived in the final minutes while Westbrook faded. Was that done by design by Kerr and the Western Conference team? Probably, but it is a cool story to see Davis score 52 points during an All-Star Game in New Orleans.