INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ rookie sensation, has pledged to bring a competitive edge to Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, despite skepticism from some of his fellow players about the potential for genuine intensity in the midseason exhibition. The game will debut a new format, dividing players into teams representing the United States and the rest of the world, in a round-robin tournament culminating in a final match.
Wembanyama, speaking Saturday during media day at the Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ newly opened $2 billion arena, emphasized the importance of energy and shared responsibility. “Exclamation-point plays, playing in a solid manner and sharing the ball with energy,” he said. “If you share that energy, people feel like they have a responsibility to share it back to you.”
The NBA has experimented with various All-Star Game formats in recent years, seeking to address concerns about a lack of competitive spirit. The league abandoned the traditional East versus West format in 2018, opting for a captain-led draft system for six seasons before briefly returning to the conference matchup last year. In 2025, a four-team tournament was held in San Francisco. This year’s shift to a U.S. Versus the World structure represents the fourth format change in as many years.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who played for France against the U.S. In the gold medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics, expressed doubt that the All-Star Game could replicate that level of intensity. “That was the Olympics. It’s just that simple,” Edwards said.
Sixteen-time All-Star Kevin Durant echoed that sentiment, suggesting that criticisms of the All-Star Game often stem from unmet expectations. “I just feel like fans and media need something to complain about, and the All-Star Game don’t make them feel like they felt when they were kids,” Durant said.
Despite the reservations of some players, NBA officials are optimistic that the new format will foster a more competitive atmosphere. Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who will coach the youngest American team dubbed the “Stars,” stated he has spoken with his players and they are committed to competing. “They’re going to set the tone. I know that for a fact, and I know that the group we have is a group of competitors,” Bickerstaff said. The older American team is known as the “Bars.”
The Rest of the World team boasts a strong lineup including Wembanyama, Slovenia’s Luka Dončić, and Serbia’s Nikola Jokić. But, the team also includes players with complex national affiliations, such as Norman Powell, born and raised in California but playing internationally for Jamaica, and Karl-Anthony Towns, who represents the Dominican Republic, the country of his mother’s origin.
The All-Star weekend also featured Damian Lillard’s third career victory in the Three-Point Contest and Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat winning the Dunk Contest.
