The 2026 NBA All-Star Sport was a wild success — up till it wasn’t.
The NBA’s new World vs USA vs USA format gave start to probably the most aggressive All-Star Video games within the final decade, proper up till the undefeated, growing old USA Stripes workforce ran out of gasoline of their third sport of the night time, a 20-point loss to a youthful, seemingly hungrier American workforce that gained the championship regardless of dropping its first sport of the night time to the identical workforce it beat to win the All-Star crown.
Complicated? Sure. Enjoyable to observe? At occasions.
However predictable? Completely. The workforce with the oldest gamers — starring LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard — began sizzling, beating the youthful American stars and the perfect of the remainder from the worldwide pool earlier than the engine sputtered and the wheels fell off with the championship on the road.
This, nevertheless, will do. The league can refine its World vs USA format to convey a greater product to its All-Star Weekend.
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest, alternatively, could also be past saving. If the NBA goes to let gamers half-heartedly try warmup dunks in its greatest spot of the season, it might as nicely scrap the occasion all collectively and substitute it with a high-level sport of King of the Courtroom.
No Knicks gamers reigned as king of the Intuit Dome’s All-Star basketball courtroom on Sunday. Representing the Dominican Republic for Crew World, Karl-Anthony Cities scored 10 early factors in his first sport of the night time, a efficiency that ended with Cities selecting to assist on Jalen Duren’s roll to the rim, leaving Scottie Barnes wide-open for a game-winning three although a Duren layup would have left the World Crew with an opportunity to win it on the buzzer.
And Jalen Brunson scored simply 5 factors in his two video games performed on Sunday, although the second sport was over the second the USA Stars jumped out to a 12-1 lead.
At the least the Knicks are leaving with some {hardware}, although it’s not the All-Star MVP trophy. That went to Anthony Edwards although it ought to have gone to Kawhi Leonard, who single-handedly despatched Victor Wembanyama and the World Crew packing with 31 factors on solely two missed pictures within the greatest sport of the All-Star Spherical Robin occasion.
Brunson agreed with a number of All-Stars evaluation of Wembanyama, whose particular person drive appears to have lit a hearth for his competitors.
“I believe Wemby is a frontrunner, and the way in which he carries himself is improbable for this sport,” stated Brunson. “And I believe he’s going a fantastic job, and also you see what his affect is on and off the courtroom round this sport. He’s damage doing what he does.”
As an alternative of an All-Star trophy, Brunson, Cities and Knicks OG Allan Houston gained the Taking pictures Stars competitors on Saturday, advancing by way of a number of rounds of shot-making from totally different elements of the ground.
But on one possession, Brunson held the ball in his palms whereas Cities stepped out to the three-point line to protect him, a sequence predictably ending with a sequence of crossover strikes and an open lane to the rim for Brunson with Cities trailing behind with a smile on his face.
Requested concerning the possession after the sport, Brunson laughed and stated scoring on his co-star was “straightforward.”
The NBA now not must overhaul its All-Star Sport. The league has discovered the baseline for brand new iterations of its marquee occasion shifting ahead. It saved the All-Star Sport. Now, it’s time to avoid wasting the Dunk Contest — or scrap it altogether.
