For Bryant, the Motto Is Just Say Shoot

A couple hours before he shot to prominence (again), he just plain shot.

Kobe Bryant’s Saturday night that ended with the slam dunk championship began with 17 field-goal attempts and 16 free throws in the rookie game, a 96-91 victory for the Eastern Conference that came despite 31 points from the 18-year-old Laker.

“He was shooting every time he got a chance,” said Kerry Kittles of the New Jersey Nets and the East. “He was going for the MVP.”

Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson earned that honor after contributing 19 points and nine assists to the victory. But Bryant, making eight of 17 shots from the field and 13 of 16 from the free-throw line in addition to his eight rebounds and seven turnovers, got the record: the biggest scoring output in the four-year history of the event, topping the 25 by Eddie Jones, another Laker, in 1995.

The chances of a Laker pacing the West were pretty high, what with three of the eight players wearing purple and gold. Then, Coach Red Holzman put Bryant, Derek Fisher and Travis Knight all in the starting lineup, with coaxing from Larry Drew, an assistant in Los Angeles and for this game.

Fisher also played well, scoring 16 points, getting six assists and no turnovers in 15 minutes. Knight had nine points and four rebounds in 20 minutes.

Lorenzen Wright, the Clipper representative, played only 11 minutes, but still had seven points and four rebounds.

“This was my first time coming to an All-Star game, even to watch,” Wright said. “It’s not at all like I thought it would be.

“I thought it would be fun. But I didn’t think it would be this much fun. It’s probably the most fun I ever had, especially in basketball.”

THREE-POINT SHOOTOUT

After missing out on three previous tries, Steve Kerr of the Chicago Bulls, the self-described Susan Lucci of the event, finally prevailed by beating defending champion Tim Legler of the Washington Bullets in the final round for the $20,000 first prize.