NEW ORLEANS -- King James' reign as half-court shot champion of the world was a brief one.
Hometown favorite Chris Paul usurped LeBron James and Jason Kidd as the leaders in the friendly competition after the Western Conference All-Stars finished a brief practice on Saturday afternoon.
The Eastern and Western conference All-Star squads each selected a handful of players to attempt as many half-court shots as they could in one minute. A moderator at the makeshift arena in the city's convention center pronounced that whoever made the most would hold the Guinness World Records mark for that timeframe.
James took jump shots from half court, hitting three. Kidd also made three, all on underhanded heaves. Other shooters for the East included Ray Allen, who made two, and Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade and Chauncey Billups, who each made one.
Wade looked exhausted toward the end of his minute and fell flat on his stomach on his last attempt.
"You'd think if you had 60 seconds in practice to make half-court you'd say, 'I'll make about 10,'" Wade said. "Man, it was rough making that one. I was happy to make one. It's a big difference. You've got the crowd, every shot they're 'ooh, aah.'"
Added James: "It ain't the easiest thing to do."
About an hour later, when the West's practice wrapped up, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Paul shot from the center circle.
Nash and Stoudamire each made one, Iverson and Duncan came close but didn't make any. Then came Paul, who routinely throws up a handful of half-court shots after Hornets practices.
It showed. He made three in the first half minute to tie James and Kidd, then drained the last one a few seconds later for the record, delighting the partisan crowd.
