Infectious Wemby makes newest NBA All-Star format click
INGLEWOOD—Victor Wembanyama brought the energy from opening tip of the NBA All-Star Game, and it proved infectious.
Some were crediting the 7-foot-5 San Antonio Spurs star for doing more to save the midseason showcase in mere minutes than anything the league has done in years.
“It was a pretty good display of basketball,” Wembanyama said. “Better than last year, in my opinion. It was fun.”
Wembanyama had been confident going in that setting the tone with competitive fire would make a difference in the league’s 75th annual showcase on Sunday at Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers’ year-old arena.
“If you share that energy,” he said, “people feel like they have a responsibility to share it back to you.”
This year featured yet another new format. Two teams of US players and one team of international players competed in a round-robin tournament consisting of three 12-minute games, all of which had exciting finishes. The top two teams by record advanced to the title game.
“I liked it,” Wembanyama said. “I wouldn’t be against this format in the future, and I wouldn’t be against the regular East versus West either.”
The US Stars team beat the US Stripes, 47-21, for the championship, with Anthony Edwards earning MVP honors.
Retired Spurs player Manu Ginobili on X called it the “most fun NBA All-Star Game in a loooong time!”
World team player Karl-Anthony Towns said, “I feel that after today I think you all can see the competition is there, and I think that we all brought it today and a sense of effort. I hope that the fans and all of you appreciate it.”
The first All-Star Game in 1951 debuted an East vs. West format that continued until 2018, when it was replaced with a player draft, where that year’s top vote-getters acted as captains and selected their teams from the pool of available starters, regardless of conference.
That lasted until 2024, when East vs. West returned for one year.
Last year, in San Francisco, the game was played tournament-style, with three eight-player teams and a fourth team of rising stars. Games were played to 40 points to decide a winner.
Next year a US vs the rest of the world format is on tap for the game in Phoenix.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who is from Israel and played on the World team, called the latest change a fun format.
“People are about to understand that it’s fun watching the All-Star Game,” he said. “It’s going to be a little more competitive, try to bring it back.”
Boston Celtics fan Siddakk Chatrah was initially skeptical of a new format that wasn’t easily explainable.
“The first game Wemby and some other international stars brought the energy, and Anthony Edwards matched them,” said Chatrah, who was at his first All-Star Game.
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