We just had the best All-Star Game/Championship in recent memory. After years of switching formats, the NBA finally succeeded with some competitive play.
The NBA All-Star Game has long faced a familiar problem: no defense, intensity, and barely any reason for fans to care. It was reflected clearly in the numbers; ratings declined, star participation dwindled, and social media kept complaining.
For a moment Sunday, the All-Star Game felt like a real game again. The tell wasn’t the score or the format. It was Victor Wembanyama stomping off the floor after a blown defensive assignment — in an exhibition.
The NBA is a league built on the backs of its stars. Every now and then, guys in the NBA will raise their play to All-Star level, and sometimes, that run only lasts for one season.
Victor Wembanyama didn’t need to be told what the All-Star Game was missing. He felt it. And more importantly, he played like it mattered. As Wembanyama made clear Sunday, intensity isn’t optional, not in a real game, not in a board game, not in something that’s supposed to represent the league at its best.
Welcome to Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!
Good players tend to succeed in the NBA. Sometimes, though, they find themselves in terrible situations but still find ways to over-achieve. These are the 20 players who carried the worst NBA teams.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game saw a surge in effort that many believed was no longer possible in the annual exhibition. While Anthony Edwards had recently expressed a cynical view of the events’ competitiveness, he arrived on Sunday with a different mindset.
Victor Wembanyama did not deny Nikola Jokic’s special request during Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. While asking for Wembanyama’s signature, Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic requested something a little more special — and creative — from the San Antonio Spurs center.
The NBA finally got what it’s been chasing for years at All-Star Weekend: Real juice. And MVP Anthony Edwards says it started with one guy refusing to treat it like a vacation run.
The NBA has switched formats, cajoled its players and tweaked the selection process to make the All-Star Game competitive. It turns out they just needed to get Victor Wembanyama fired up.
Victor Wembanyama is an extreme competitor and not even the flatlining All-Star Game that was once so beloved could stop the San Antonio Spurs star from giving a damn.
San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant had the Slam Dunk Contest in his grasp Saturday night, but let it slip away in the final round. Bryant was unable to land a between-the-legs alley-oop dunk in the final round of the dunk contest, effectively conceding the win to Miami’s Keshad Johnson.
Kobe Bryant is remembered for many things, but there are tons of stories about his final chapters in the league. Now, a 12-year veteran and two-time NBA champion has come forward with his own story, including Bryant putting up to $10 million at risk for a small favor.
Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat dunked, danced and defied gravity with a dunk over E-40. Now everyone will know him as the 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion.
The New York Knicks are poised to add versatile forward Jeremy Sochan to their roster after he cleared waivers following his release from the San Antonio Spurs, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The 22-year-old – the No.
San Antonio Spurs rookie forward Carter Bryant will replace injured Memphis Grizzlies rookie guard Cedric Coward on Team Vince in the Rising Stars game on Friday in Inglewood, Calif.
The San Antonio Spurs have completed one of the most calculated rebuilds in NBA history. As of early 2026, the Spurs have transformed from a rebuilding team in the basement of the Western Conference to a legitimate, top-four contender, largely rewriting their expected timeline.