NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Saturday that the All-Star Game MVP award will be renamed after NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.
“He has the all-time record of 18 consecutive All-Star games and we wanted something more permanent than changing the numbers on the jerseys,” Silver told reporters at the league’s All-Star Weekend in Chicago.
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people died Jan. 26 when the helicopter they were flying in crashed in Calabasas, Calif.
In his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant won five NBA championships, one regular-season MVP and made the All-NBA First Team 11 times. He is also the youngest player in the league’s history to become an All-Star, getting the honor for the first time in 1998 when he was 19 years old.
Only Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has more All-Star Game appearances than Bryant.