Kobe, LeBron share court as Cavaliers beat Lakers 120-111

Kobe Bryant walked off the floor blowing kisses and waving goodbye to another roaring sell-out crowd in another visiting city.

Bryant will not be back. Love told reporters he did not expect to miss any games.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were apparently in the middle of a blockbuster deal in 2007, when they meant to trade LeBron James for Kobe Bryant.

Stephen Curry almost had a triple-double before sitting out the fourth, and Golden State goes into the All-Star break on an 11-game winning streak.

He did not return but said he would be ready when the Cavs host the Chicago Bulls on Feb 18.

Love’s shoulder seemed to be caught by the Lakers’ Bryant when Love was backing him down on a shot in the post.

His left arm dangling, Love immediately headed to the locker room with 46.5 seconds left in the half, with Cavs general manager David Griffin not far behind him. “It felt like fire was running down my arm”, Love said. “I’m good”, Bryant said.

Bryant finished with 17 points in his last performance in Cleveland, where many fans cheered his every move and fans serenaded him with “Ko-be” chants throughout the night.

Evan Fournier led Orlando with 28 points.

The victory was Cleveland’s third straight over a Western Conference foe heading into the All-Star Break – having dropped the Pelicans and Kings in convincing fashion heading into Kobe Bryant’s final appearance on the North Coast.

Lakers: One of Bryant’s roles in his final season is to mentor rookie D’Angelo Russell, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft. It was mostly an opportunity for writers to compare the two over the years, and try to pinpoint the moment it became James’ league while Bryant became the second best player (was he ever the best?), falling quickly down the rankings.

Michael Jordan never had an emoji, so Bryant has already one-upped “his Airness” in the number of All-Star emojis category.In more relevant basketball categories, Bryant holds the All-Star Game records for most consecutive selections, most games started, most points and most field goals made. Despite the Lakers and LeBron’s Cavalier teams of the mid aughts starring at the same time, the two squads never met in the finals.

“His competitive nature”, James said when asked what he admires most about Bryant.

Warm and fuzzy feelings aside, the Cavaliers did what they had to do against the struggling Lakers to close out the season’s first half in style on Wednesday night at The Q. “Thirteenth?! He’s a vet – a true, true vet. To me it still seems like he’s just gotten to the league”.

Bryant and James have always had a mutual respect.

“It’s definitely generational”, James said.

It’s time to admit that the Kevin Love experiment didn’t work and time to do something about it if Cleveland wants to win that coveted National Basketball Association title.

“For me, it didn’t feel right averaging 27 and then being a role player averaging 10”, O’Neal said. Cavaliers G Matthew Dellavedova missed his fifth game with an injured left hamstring….