"When the two-hour all-star showcase ended, Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay grabbed a microphone and thanked the fans for showing up.

The biggest star in the building, LeBron James, then delivered a message to NBA-starved fans who didn't attend Gay's charity exhibition game Tuesday night at the DeSoto Civic Center.

"Stay with us. Just stay with us," James said. "We play the game of basketball because of (the fans). This is how we do it when the cameras aren't around. We wanted to let them know that we love to play the game. We want to let the fans know that without them, there's no us. We're going to try to continue to showcase whenever we can.""