NBA All-Star Game's long slog and failed attempts to fix it - ESPN

Imagine an NBA All-Star Game where one superstar broke another's nose by playing aggressive defense at the rim in the third quarter.

Picture one of the best players in NBA history angrily chiding another all-time great at the final horn because one of them passed up taking the final shot.

These things happened in the same All-Star Game, and not that long ago. In the 2012 game in Orlando, Dwyane Wade fractured Kobe Bryant's nose to prevent a layup with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

That night was more memorable for Bryant barking at LeBron James to «shoot the f---ing ball» when James passed it twice in the final 10 seconds with his team, the East All-Stars, down by two to Bryant's West. In a timeout before the final possession, Bryant had assigned himself to cover James and badly wanted to directly stop him. The West won 152-149, but Bryant ended the game with a scowl, frustrated James wouldn't challenge him.

A few days later, before Wade's Miami Heat were about to play Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers, Wade called to make sure there were no hard feelings. He was pleasantly surprised when Bryant told him that he «loved» Wade playing that hard in the exhibition.

In a memorable 2003 All-Star moment, Michael Jordan attempted to get into Bryant's head when he trash-talked the young star as Bryant had a chance to make three free throws with one second left in overtime to win. Bryant missed, and the game went to double overtime, Jordan having hit a miraculous jumper that almost won it for the East in Atlanta.

This was how Bryant, who deeply cared about All-Star Games, was raised to play in these events. Two decades later, it's hard to compute which is more unfathomable for an All-Star Game: real end-of-game