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Toronto • The NBA has gone north of the border for All-Star weekend-and the mercury has dropped south of zero. With a nice breezing blowing off Lake Ontario, the high barely sniffed zero and wind chills dipped below -30 Fahrenheit.
So cold, even James Harden's famous face warmer wasn't cutting it.
"It's too cold," Harden, the Houston Rockets All-Star guard said after the West's practice on Saturday morning. "Usually the beard helps, but it's so cold here nothing helps."
The only thing that seems to make everyone Toronto warm and fuzzy is talking about Kobe Bryant, the legendary Laker who has been picked for his 18th and final All-Star Game.
"I know it will kind of be bittersweet for a lot of people, but it should be celebrated like it will be," Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "It's been a great accomplishment for him. He's the legal voting age in all-star years. That's crazy. Just his body of work is second to none, so it's good. I think it's good for him to have some sort of closure and he can move on."
Every player has a Kobe story — and every player has been asked to share his, as media from all over the globe has descended on Ontario.
"He's the Michael Jordan of our era," said Kyle Lowry, one of two Toronto Raptors guards on the East's roster this year. "He's the most competitive player we've played against and the things he's done throughout his career and the things he's done to change the game, to motivate the players is unbelievable."
Bryant was given gifts by some international media on Friday, as he held court, speaking in English, Spanish and Italian. The future Hall of Famer seemed loose and said he was enjoying what might be the highlight of his farewell tour.
"I'm happy," said Bryant, who will retire at season's end. "This is pretty cool. I'm looking around the room and seeing guys that I'm playing with that are tearing the league up that were like four during my first All-Star Game. It's true. I mean, how many players can say they've played 20 years and actually have seen the game go through three, four generations, you know what I mean? I'm not sad at all. I'm really happy and honored to be here and see this."
Some of those youngsters, such as Golden State's Stephen Curry and New Orleans' Anthony Davis, will now have multiple All-Star appearances under their belts. For others, the trip to Toronto for their first all-star selection has been an eye-opening experience.
"It's a crazy feeling … seeing myself on billboards in the street," said Pistons big man Andre Drummond.
"It's a lifelong dream," Golden State's Draymond Green said of his first All-Star nod. "To finally be here is obviously a dream come true."
Minnesota rookie Karl-Anthony Towns isn't an All-Star … yet. But the future superstar won Saturday night's skills challenge and was a highlight of Friday's rookie-sophomore game. The Wolves and Jazz were the only teams with three representatives in that exhibition, by the way, and both clubs hope that means things will be heating up for their franchise sooner than later.
Speaking of warmth, the high for All-Star Sunday was supposed to actually be a little better — a balmy 12 degrees. But Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan swears it's not always this way.
"Nobody believes me," he said. "They think it's cold like this all the time, but that's not the truth. You've got to take the good with the bad. We've got an All-Star weekend here, everything's here, we can't complain."
Twitter: @tribjazz The 2016 NBA All-Star Game
At Air Canada Centre, Toronto
TV • TNT
Tipoff • Sunday, 6 p.m. MT