The MGM Grand outfitted the lion over their entrance in the newly designed NBA Western Conference jersey. The promotional event is part of the NBA Allstar Game in Las Vegas on Feb. 18, 2007. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant attempts to move the ball around Shaquille O’Neal at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant lays the ball off the glass at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
NBA Western Conference player Kobe Bryant holds up the Most Valuable Player trophy after it was awarded to him following the 2007 NBA All-Star Game Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Kobe Bryant dunks during the NBA All-Star game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Kobe Bryant, left, blocks NBA Eastern Conference player Gilbert Arenas during the 2007 NBA All-Star game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots around Mehmet Okur, (13) of the Utah Jazz, right, during the NBA All-Star basketball game in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. The Western Conference defeated the East, 153-132. (AP)
ESPN basketball commentator and former UNLV basketball player Greg Anthony, left, prepares to interview NBA Western Conference player LeBron James, who plays with the Cleveland Cavaliers, during a NBA Entertainment media event at the Palms during a 2007 NBA All-Star weekend Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Singer Christina Aguilera performs at half time during the 2007 NBA All-Star basketball game in at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Sigfried, right, and Roy attend the 2007 NBA All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
K.M. CANNON/REVIEW-JOURNAL
Sigfried, right, and Roy attend the NBA All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007.
Las Vegas police public information officer Jose Montoya speaks during a news conference in the median on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. Montoya addressed crime in Las Vegas over the NBA All-Star weekend, including two separate shooting incidents in the early morning hours of Monday that left four people hospitalized after they were shot. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Wayne Newton performs before the start of the 2007 NBA All-Star game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Clint Holmes sing the National Anthem Sunday February 18,2007 during the All-Star basketball game at the Thomas and Mack Center. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Actor Adam Sandler, left, and Kevin James laugh during the NBA All-Star basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. Singer Christina Aguilera performs at half time during the 2007 NBA All-Star basketball game in at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Steve Carrell, left, and Harold Ramis attend the NBA All-Star game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, left, takes a call while chatting with California Gov. Arnold Schwartzeneger before the start of the NBA All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007.
K.M. Cannon/Review-Journal file photo)
NBA Eastern Conference starting players are introduced prior to the start of the 2007 NBA All-Star basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
NBA Western Conference starting players are introduced prior to the start of the 2007 NBA All-Star basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday Feb. 18, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file photo)
Opening tip-off of the NBA All-Star Game held at the Thomas and Mack Center on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. (Craig L. Moran/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Shaquille O’Neal, center, laughs with other players after the finish of the NBA All-Star game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Chris Bosh, in blue, goes up for a layup against Amare Stoudemire during the NBA All-Star game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Workers finish installing banners at the Thomas and Mack Center in preparation for the NBA All-Star game this weekend. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Gerald Green makes a dunk for a perfect score of 50 to end the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas Saturday, Feb. 16, 2007. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Gerald Green of the Boston Celtics flies over a table on his final dunk to win the Slam-dunk competition during NBA All-Star festivities at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The MGM Grand hotel-casino outfitted the lion over their entrance in the newly designed NBA Western Conference jersey. The promotional event is part of the NBA Allstar Game in Las Vegas on Feb. 18, 2007. (John Gurzinski/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant is surrounded by Lied Memorial Boys & Girls Club fans in Las Vegas on Friday, Feb. 16, 2007. Clint Karlsen/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Las Vegas has come a long way in major league sports since the city hosted the NBA All-Star Game 12 years ago.
Kobe Bryant was the game’s Most Valuable Player, scoring 31 points in the West’s 153-132 win on Feb. 18, 2007.
But more news came off the court than on it.
Review-Journal columnist Ed Graney wrote: The week proved to be a division between sports and lawlessness, with one side producing some of the game’s most entertaining and unforgettable moments in its history and the other shining a negative light on Las Vegas and its perceived unreadiness to land a major professional franchise.
There were more than 400 reported arrests with the most troubling incident involving a member of former NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones’ entourage, who opened fire outside Minxx Gentleman’s Club and Lounge, striking bouncer Tommy Urbanski and paralyzing him from the waist down.
Twelve years after “cultures clashed and the town wondered if it could shake its reputation as one of a taboo for pro sports,” as Graney described, Las Vegas will soon play host to two such franchises. One already is entrenched — the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights — and the other — the NFL’S Oakland Raiders — is scheduled to start play in Las Vegas in 2020.
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