"Carmelo Anthony, back in his home town, generated considerable cheers when he strolled onto the court at Morgan State's Hill Field House, wearing sunglasses and lifting his hand to acknowledge the crowd. LeBron James was right behind his friend and former Olympic teammate and fans got up on their feet, suddenly turning the most star-studded exhibition game of the summer into a standing room affair.

Fans flocked the court to catch a closer glimpse of Anthony as he warmed up, shooting jumpers; James, as he stretched out at center court, and Chris Paul, as he walked around, searching for some scissors to adjust his extra large shorts. But the anticipation of the game was muted for some time, as the other all-star expected to perform was conspicuously absent, with organizers ready to get the game started without him.

After Kevin Durant — wearing a backpack — finally sauntered into the gym, about a half-hour or so late, the game could finally begin. "It was a lot of traffic coming from my side of town, so I tried to hurry up," Durant explained afterward. "I apologize for making everybody wait."

Durant made the wait worthwhile, as he continued his domination of summer hoops by scoring a game-high 59 points, many coming with James playing tight defense on him, but he was unable to keep the Goodman All-Stars from avoiding a 149-141 loss to the Melo All-Stars, who were led by the stacked trio of James, Anthony and Paul. James sparked his team with 38 points, Anthony scored 36, and Paul had 18 in an entertaining and hastily-planned game that hinged heavily on the availability of James and Paul.

When asked how he was able to convince James to play in Baltimore for the first time, Anthony smiled and said, "It was easy. I use my favors when I can. I don't like to call them and say, 'I need this, I need that.' There's no money involved, we don't take no money. We're just good friends, and I told him, I said, 'Look, man, you've got to come through.'?""