Mamba Week: Relive Kobe's Greatest NBA All-Star Game Performance

Heading into Kobe Bryant's MVP-winning performance at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, the league was abuzz with one major storyline: Where will the Denver Nuggets trade Carmelo Anthony?

While NBA journalists were scrambling to break the news on Melo's future, the NBA's elite young All-Stars (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin, to name a few) landed in Los Angeles to make their marks in front of a sold-out Staples Center.

Amid this group of superstar youth stood the battle-tested future Hall of Famer who refused to pass the torch. The Lakers were still the two-time defending champions, and Kobe was on his home court. What transpired was one of the all-time greatest All-Star Game performances.