The NBA All-Star break can be a lot of things for a lot of different people. For me, it was a nice weekend. I got a chance to enjoy some good days at home in Los Angeles with my family, especially having that extra day on Monday with the kids off. I always value that time.

We actually closed out the first half of the season in LA, so that was convenient for me. But early on in that one, we struggled with bringing the appropriate amount of focus for that one game.

The game on Thursday night before All-Star weekend is a tough game to play for most players and most teams. There are so many variables that guys are carrying into that game that they don’t normally. The travel associated with All-Star weekend for a guy like Kevin Durant, who was going down there and participating — you can’t help but think about the time, commitment and the energy that’s going to go into that. It can be tough to really lock into the game that night before.

But in the second half and fourth quarter, it became easier to focus in and engage, stay in the moment, and finish the game off.

It was definitely an enjoyable game from a competitive standpoint, just having a chance to get back to Staples Center and compete against those guys. Most of the guys on the Lakers right now I don’t know very well, so I didn’t feel like I was playing against guys I had gone to battle with in previous years. It really was just another game from the perspective of the guys I was playing against.

But anytime you play against your former team, especially a team that traded you or where you were in a situation where things didn’t work out, those are some of the most enjoyable games you will play. It doesn’t get much better than getting to go back there and help your team win the game.

I still have a lot of friends in the area, obviously, living there in the offseason. So there were a lot of families and people that I know very well in the stands. Joel and Karen Silver, and their son Max were sitting courtside. Max has been to my basketball camp a few times, and Joel and Karen have been very generous as friends to my family and me. So after I hit that three to tie the game in the fourth quarter, I shot a wink over at them. It was just a fun thing between us.

Making that shot late in the game and then the free throws to help close it out, in that building, felt familiar. Of course, I have been there before, but many of those times, I was wearing the other jersey. So it was a lot of fun to help us secure the victory.

STAYCATION IN LA

Our team had some heavy travel days in December and January leading up to the All-Star break. So rather than plan a quick vacation during All-Star, I felt it was important to stay close to home and enjoy LA. That’s one of the beautiful things about living in Southern California. You live in a vacation destination.

I really enjoyed doing what could be considered as “nothing,” just staying home and spending some time with my kids. By now, the kids are accustomed to the ins and outs of what my job brings. We’ve had some longer breaks these last couple years compared to the past, but they’re pretty good with it as long as I come back when I say I’m going to come back. But it’s always good to get a few days with them during the season.

All of the kids are into Legos, so we went to go see The Lego Movie. They had seen it once already, so I think I wanted to see it more than them. But we all enjoyed it. All the animation companies have done a great job of making their movies appeal to adults as well as kids. Having been to my share of those types of movies these last several years, I can say as an adult, they’re pretty enjoyable for us as well.

That was the highlight of the weekend, being able to hang out with them and check that movie out. We just did a lot of simple things like that over the course of the weekend. For me, it was good to step away from the pace of what my life has been the last 7-8 years around this time of year.

As President of the Players’ Association, most years I spent at least part of the All-Star break at All-Star weekend, so it was refreshing to have a chance to get away from the rat race of not just being a player, but the commitment and time that had gone into being so heavily involved in the Players’ Association.

I did watch a little bit of the game. Obviously, the game itself is not the mostly highly competitive game you’ll see. The thing you have to appreciate for those guys is that they obviously want to entertain the fans and put on a great show. But there’s a lot at stake for the rest of the season, and a lot of those guys want to win a championship. So they don’t want to put themselves in a position where an injury in the All-Star game could derail those plans.

For that reason, the game is more about the entertainment value, and you have to respect those guys for going out and putting on a good show. I thought Kevin did a great job of playing his game, taking the shots that were there and playing it like a regular game. He wasn’t trying to do anything too fancy. He was just playing ball.

SHARPENING OUR SKILLS

Tonight’s game will be a decent barometer for our team. Any time two teams that are expected to have a chance to win a championship play against each other, win or lose, it’s always a great opportunity to see where you are.

You measure yourself next to a team that is just as good, or could be better than you are if you don’t bring the right approach to the game.

Still, I’m not sure how important the outcome is. It’s the same as the game we played against them a few weeks ago. Obviously, if you win against a team like that, it’s great. But that game has no bearing on this particular game, and whatever happens in this game really has no impact on the rest of the season.

What we’ll be trying to do as we head into this final stretch of this season before the postseason is round ourselves into form.

The games leading into the playoffs after the All-Star break give you the ability to do that, to become your best self over the next couple of months. It’s about developing the ability to play with that urgency, yet being able to manage your mindset and your approach to the game. When you reach the playoffs, you want to be at a point where those things are in tune and your execution level, as well as your attention to detail, are at a really high clip.

It’s kind of like sharpening the edge of a knife, in the sense that you’re preparing yourself for the work to come.

I’m not sure if I always knew how to do that, especially at this level. I always understood, because of my experiences going all the way back to youth basketball, that there’s a certain level of importance to every game. I think I learned at a very young age how to bring a championship mentality to everything that I did in relation to basketball, even practice.

But there are things that are different in the NBA, in terms of the season and the physical and mental energy required to win a playoff series, and then another playoff series, and another, all the way to a championship.

Managing your energy for that long road is something you have to learn how to do. Personally, I was very fortunate early in my NBA career to be on perennial playoff teams, where we expected to be in the playoffs and have a chance to be very successful every season. So I got started right away learning some of the things I needed to do to manage myself so I would be able to help the team.

As a team, we have some experience in doing that here in Oklahoma City, but it really is a case-by-case matter as to whether that’s a good thing or not.

Sometimes, experience lends itself to creating a sense of complacency. You feel like you have been there before, and you go into it with a sense of expectation or entitlement, and you lose that beginner’s excitement and enthusiasm for trying to get something you’ve never experienced before.

But I think we’re in a good spot. We have some young guys who are looking to achieve something they’ve never achieved before in terms of playing minutes on a championship caliber team, and getting deep into the playoffs. We also have some other guys who have been there before, who have been to the NBA Finals, and may not be that excited about making it to the playoffs and whatever might happen in the first round.

The trick of it is, you still have to bring the same sense of urgency to the game and almost treat it as though it is your first time. That’s not easy to do.