The 2026 NBA All-Star Game’s new USA vs. World format was a “big win for the NBA,” giving Commissioner Adam Silver some positive momentum after having “been under siege this weekend,” according to Chris Mannix of SI. The Dunk Contest “was dull, the celebrity game lacked, you know, celebrities,” and while it was fun to watch injured Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard come back to win the Three-Point Contest, it is a “tough look for the league when its top marksman is recovering from a torn Achilles.” Meanwhile, Silver spent his All-Star news conference “parrying questions about tanking, a cap circumvention investigation and expansion.” The NBA “needed” the All-Star Game’s revival. It needed Spurs F Victor Wembanyama “carrying the torch.” There was a “changing of the guard vibe this weekend.” Stars such as Rockets F Kevin Durant, Clippers F Kawhi Leonard and Warriors G Stephen Curry are still around, and at his media availability on Sunday, Lakers F LeBron James “didn’t sound like a man ready to retire.” But new stars like Wembanyama, T’Wolves G Anthony Edwards, Pistons G Cade Cunningham, Suns G Devin Booker and 76ers G Tyrese Maxey “are rising.” A takeaway from the game was that the “next generation is here, and they are ready to take over” (SI, 2/15).
STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: USA TODAY’s Lorenzo Reyes noted Silver has “taken criticism recently” over his handling of several off-court scandals and his management of the All-Star Game, so having the “jewel of the weekend succeed is a massively positive step.” There is “still work to be done, especially with the Slam Dunk Contest,” but there were “plenty of fans wondering if the NBA should do away entirely with the All-Star Game.” However, if this is what fans will get, the move “should be to continue to refine and improve the product” (USA TODAY, 2/15). In N.Y., Kristian Winfield wrote the NBA “no longer needs to overhaul its All-Star Game.” The league “has found the baseline for new iterations of its marquee event moving forward. It saved the All-Star Game” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/15).
CARRYING THE LEAGUE FORWARD: YAHOO SPORTS’ Kelly Iko wrote seeing the likes of Edwards and Wembanyama “raise their games on one of the biggest stages, as ambassadors of basketball, is critical for the future of the sport.” One of the topics discussed over the weekend is the “crowning of the face of the league.” Both Edwards and Wembanyama offer “different vantage points as it pertains to the league dynamic, but collectively, they represent the best the NBA has to offer … carrying the league for the next generation.” Iko wrote there is a “very real storm that the NBA finds itself in, with illegal sports gambling, alleged financial misconduct and tanking at the forefront of the issues.” But if Sunday was a “microcosm of what it means to be in the eye of the storm, it’s phenomenal” (YAHOO SPORTS, 2/15).
A BIG ‘THANK YOU’: YAHOO SPORTS’ Ben Rohrbach wrote given Wembanyama’s effort on Sunday, the moniker of “face of the NBA” may be his “sooner than later.” Rohrbach: “Nobody spoke louder than the Frenchman in words and actions on All-Star Weekend” (YAHOO SPORTS, 2/15). In San Antonio, Tom Orsborn noted Wembanyama was the “big winner after he made good on his vow to go all out and elevate the play of everyone around him” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 2/16). In California, Mirjam Swanson wrote under the header, “Thank you, Victor Wembanyama, for a fantastic All-Star Game” (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/15).