Victor Wembanyama inspires most competitive NBA All-Star Game in years

After the game, Edwards told NBC's postgame crew that once Wembanyama came out playing extremely hard, he and the other All-Stars had no choice but to match his intensity.

Victor Wembanyama gave notice this All-Star Game would be different

Two weeks before Sunday's game, Wembanyama put the other All-Stars on notice, declaring that if the NBA's other stars weren't going to give maximum effort in the exhibition, he would play hard without them.

You could argue that Wembanyama inspired what may have been the All-Star Game's most impressive performance, when Kawhi Leonard put up 31 points in the Los Angeles Clippers' own arena to spark Team Stripes' 48-45 win over Team World.

Leonard shot 11-for-13 but his biggest offensive output came after Wemby sat down briefly. With the NBA's best shot-blocker sitting, Leonard scored 11 points on four straight possessions — then scored two more points when Wemby fouled him.

Wemby kept the pressure on with two three-pointers in the final two minutes, then sinking two game-tying free throws — which set up Leonard's game-winner with 3.5 seconds left to play.

Edwards and Leonard deserved their flowers for how well they played Sunday. But they got a big push from Wembanyama, who refused to treat the All-Star Game as an exhibition and wouldn't let anyone else do it either. It was the least he could do.