The day after Valentine's was full of love for the NBA, which accomplished something that both fans and pundits alike had all but deemed impossible. The league saved the NBA All-Star Game.
Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards went viral on Friday for declaring that the All-Star Game “is what it is at this point.” It was a disappointingly transparent warning against any expectations of effort. It was evident after the first of Sunday's four games that Edwards had changed his mind.
Team Stars—the younger group of American All-Stars—defeated Team World 37-35. After the game, Edwards told Zora Stephenson that San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama's intensity brought the competitive edge out of his group.
“I mean, you know, I ain't gone lie, Wemby set the tone. Like, he came out playing hard. So it's hard not to match that, so, s—, that's what happened. Sorry for my language, that's what happened though,” Edwards told Stephenson on NBC's broadcast.
Edwards and Wembanyama are the two players most often referred to as the “future faces of the NBA,” a heartbreaking acknowledgement that the playing careers of two Akron-born superstars, their Slim-Reaping compatriot, and Kawhi Leonard will end. The Timberwolves guard has avoided the designation like the plague, but his MVP-winning performance worked against that on Sunday.
Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards make good on Muggsy Bogues' All-Star prediction
One former NBA player saw the revival of the All-Star Game coming. Ironically, it was the shortest player in league history who had the vision necessary to disagree with an industry that had largely given up on the event.
Bogues told David Shepard on SiriusXM NBA Radio that players know that the game is just an exhibition and that fans “wait all year” for the event. He also predicted that just a couple of young, zealous All-Stars would bring the necessary fire out of the rest of the league's best.
“It's the players. They know it's an All-Star game. But they know when it's time to compete and give the fans exactly what they deserve … I think the message and the word is getting out. And I think some younger players understand the importance of it. And I think they're gonna put some of their—I don't know, maybe the older guys, on Front Street. Because when you're putting that type of effort and that energy out there, it resonates. And it also shows who's all in, and who's all out,” Bogues clairvoyantly explained to Shepard ahead of All-Star Weekend.
Wembanyama's approach to the competition was reminiscent of the fervor that fans saw a young Kobe Bryant bring to the 1998 All-Star Game. The Last Dance most recently highlighted the desire of veteran players to knock the eager Bryant down, the exact energy that the sixth-year guard in Edwards had for the third-year phenomenon.
Throwing financial incentives at the league's wealthiest players has not proven to incentivize effort. However, challenges from their peers tap into the competitive spirit that fuels their battles against the best players in the world. That's the NBA's key to saving its All-Star Game, which it accomplished regardless of format changes.
The event will always go as far as its best talent will take it. This year, they shot for the stars.
