The All-Star Game hadn’t been good in quite a while, and it seemed to come down to effort and motivation. For whatever reason, today’s players just didn’t seem to care about the game itself, and so the actual play had become increasingly embarrassing and unwatchable.
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver has tried seemingly everything to restore the game to its former glory, but before this year, nothing had stuck. Then, a miracle happened. This year’s game, which featured two teams from the U.S. and one made up of All-Stars from around the world, was actually competitive. Guys took some pride in playing defense and trying to win, and the result was the best All-Star Game in years.
Afterwards, Victor Wembanyama got much of the credit for the game’s competitiveness. The young Frenchman came into the game intent on giving his best effort, and that attitude trickled down to players who admitted they would have otherwise been apathetic, like Anthony Edwards.
Wemby was simply following in the footsteps of the late, great Kobe Bryant. Kobe and his Mamba mentality did not mess around, whether it was Game 7 of the Finals or the first game of the preseason. As Dwyane Wade shared on his podcast this weekend, Kobe forced guys to either meet his level or be embarrassed.
Wade, speaking on his podcast about his first ever All-Star Game in 2005, said, “The stars of the game were the ones who determined how the game went. Kobe Bryant brought it every All-Star Game. So me as a young guy, having to guard Kobe, he at my a**. I gotta lock up.”
Kobe was already basketball royalty by time Wade got to the league, a three-time champion with a killer reputation. Because he knew that Kobe was going to give it all he had, Wade had no choice but to do his best. “I’m just following suit, because I’m a young fella happy to be here, but I don’t wanna get embarrassed by Kobe Bryant.”
What Wade conveniently left out, but his cohost helpfully reminded him, was that he not only matched Kobe’s intensity, he broke the Laker legend’s nose.
Wade set the scene, saying that Kobe was hitting him every chance he got, and getting away with it since the refs weren’t looking to call anything since it was the All-Star Game.
Eventually, it reached a point where he needed to fight back. “Then I lose myself a little bit,” he remembered. “I’m like, ‘Oh, this is what we’re doing. This is where we at. So on the opposite end I’m like, ‘Get the ball, ’cause I’m f****** you up.”
Though he admitted that he did try to “Foul the s*** outta him,” Wade said that he wasn’t trying to broke Kobe’s nose, even though that’s what happened. When he reached out to Kobe to check on him after the game, the former Lakers star reassured/terrified him by saying, “I love it.”
Much of the dialogue around the NBA recently has been about who should be considered the face of the league. It used to be Kobe, and if we’re using him as a measuring stick, then Wemby has to be the heir apparent, since like the Mamba, he’s the one who brought the intensity back to the All-Star Game.
Wade said, “The stars of the game were the ones who determined how the game went,” and in an arena full of stars, Wemby was the one that inspired everyone else to lock in. There were no broken noses this year, but just give it time.
