TORONTO — So you take one part great teammates, blend in equal parts talent, experience and familiarity.
Then add a whopping portion of work.
That’s how you make a superstar like Stephen Curry. Someone asked Curry for the percentages of what makes him who he is.
“The team helps. And being around basketball for so long,” Curry said. “But that only gets you to a certain level. A big part of the equation is the work ethic you put into it and just the will to continue to get better. I love the game and want to get better every single time I step on the floor, and that’s my motivation. That’s what’s driving me.”
It’s working.
One guy truly grateful to be in the All-Star Game — actually any game — is Indiana’s Paul George, who missed so much of last season after a devastating leg injury sustained while with Team USA. He attended some of All-Star Weekend in New York last year.
“It was really hard. I only came for Friday and Saturday and left on Sunday,” said George, who will start Sunday for the East. “I didn’t watch the game. For that reason alone, I just didn’t feel right being there and not being part of it.”
But now George, like all his fellow stars, is reveling in Kobe Bryant’s All-Star farewell.
“It means a lot,” George said. “Just everything, me coming back from rehab, being voted in as a starter and then it’s Kobe’s last one. It has a lot of special reasons why I love being here for this game. I know he’s going to come out and put on a show for the fans his last time around.”
Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan met briefly Friday. Bryant was asked about his relationship with his idol.
“We always had great exchanges,” Bryant said. “The championship ring count isn’t one I can catch now. But one of my favorite memories is having discussions where we were all judging dunk contests. Dominique Wilkins, Dr. J, myself, MJ. We’re all standing their talking and Dr. J says, ‘Hey man, I don’t know how you scored 81 in a game.’ And Michael kind of goes, ‘Yeah, wow [as in agreeing].’
“So I said to MJ, ‘The last time I played you in the NBA, I had 42 at halftime.’ And that was the only barb I really got in on Michael,” said Bryant, who has been the central storyline this weekend.
During Saturday’s practice, attended by fans, a video montage played showing some of his career highlights. Fans chanted “Ko-Be.’’
One of the topics of conversation this weekend — aside from folks talking about remembering Kobe when they were embryos — is the Warriors’ quest to break the 72-win total of the 1995-96 Bulls.
“Records are meant to be broken,” said LeBron James, who thinks it’s possible.
Washington’s John Wall, who acknowledged the Warriors’ ridiculous quality and ability, conceded it might be tougher than most folks think.
“It’s going to be a tough task,” Wall said. “Teams know what they’re going for and what they’re going after. It’s all up to them. They have a great chance of doing it. But it’s easier said than done.”
The Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony provided his favorite Bryant moment Saturday.
“My first All-Star Game,” Anthony said. “I came to the locker room, being in awe. I was a replacement that year. I see Kobe in there. The way he was approaching the All-Star Game was the way he was approaching a regular season game. That was a special day.”
Jimmer Fredette of the Westchester Knicks set a D-League All-Star Game record Saturday with 35 points.