Iverson's Defiance

"Kobe and Allen are going at it!"

"Unwise! At a time like this, he should trust his teammates. The Western Conference bench is packed with formidable players too!"

"No! Those two Spurs guys—do you think Duncan and David Robinson would willingly play second fiddle to Kobe? They'd be lucky just not to hold the team back out there!"

"Jason Kidd loves performing on the big stage, and so does Webber. Neither of them has any grudge against Kobe, so they might actually give it their all! But the Spurs Twin Towers are different!"

"The bad blood between the Spurs Twin Towers and the Lakers' OK Duo went back to last season's playoffs. This season, Kobe had delivered two historic dunks in a single game, turning both Spurs big men into highlights!"

"With that kind of history, it'd be a miracle if they willingly helped Kobe! That's why Kobe refused to rest!"

"I'm sure Popovich had already spoken to the Spurs Twin Towers before the All-Star Game."

"Even with their professional discipline allowing them to follow the game plan on the court, don't expect them to play particularly well!"

In San Antonio, Popovich listened to the commentators' analysis while holding a glass of red wine, a faint smile on his face.

That was right!

No way was he letting Duncan and David Robinson go all out!

They just needed to go out there, run around for a bit, avoid getting the league fined, and keep the fans from being disappointed.

Risk life and limb to help Kobe win All-Star MVP?

In his dreams!

The Spurs' biggest target this season was the Lakers—Kobe!

Popovich believed that among the Western Conference teams this season, aside from the Lakers, none posed any threat to the Spurs!

The Spurs had at least a seventy percent