Went to OT. Scottie Barnes hit the game winner. Wemby had 14 and set the tone for the entire night. Ant had 13. This is when everyone realized the new format might actually work. 🔥
De'Aaron Fox hit a buzzer-beating three. Ant had 5 straight points to put Stars up 40-39 late, then Fox answered. Jaylen Brown led Stripes with 11. Ant and Cade both had 11 for Stars. Absolutely electric. ⚡
Kawhi Leonard went nuclear. 31 points, 11-for-13 shooting, 6-of-7 from three. Hit the game-winning stepback over KAT. Wemby had 19 for World but couldn't stop Kawhi. This sent Stripes to the final. 🎯
Championship wasn't even close. Young guns blew out the vets. Tyrese Maxey led with 9, Ant had 8. Stripes missed 13 of their first 16 shots and it was over. Ant wins Kobe Bryant MVP Trophy. 🏆
🏆 75th NBA All-Star Game Recap
USA Stars Win Championship
Final: USA Stars 47, USA Stripes 21
🐜 Kobe Bryant MVP: Anthony Edwards (32 pts total)
All-Star Game 2026
The New Format Saved All-Star Weekend. And Wemby Saved the Format.
The first three games were absolute theater. USA Stars beat Team World 37-35 in overtime after Scottie Barnes hit a game winner. Then De'Aaron Fox hit a buzzer-beating three to give USA Stripes a 42-40 win over the Stars. Then Kawhi Leonard went nuclear, dropping 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting with six threes to send the Stripes to the final.
The championship? Not close. USA Stars blew out the older Stripes 47-21 behind Anthony Edwards, who won MVP with 32 total points across the three games. But here's what actually matters: people tried. Real defense. Real emotion. Wemby set the tone in the first game, playing like his life depended on it, and everyone else had to match his energy or look like clowns. It worked.
Former President Barack Obama showed up on the NBC broadcast, caught a loose ball, and told Reggie Miller the USA vs World format finally fixed the effort problem. The numbers back it up: 8.8 million viewers, the biggest All-Star audience since 2011. This format isn't going anywhere.
🚨 KD's Burner Account Leaked Mid All-Star Weekend
Kevin Durant Allegedly Caught Trashing Teammates on @gethigher77
Kevin Durant played in his 16th All-Star Game on Sunday. While he was on the court, screenshots were leaking all over Twitter from what people are calling his burner account. The handle? @gethigher77. And if it's really him, this might be the wildest burner saga yet.
The leaked messages show the account talking trash about current Rockets teammates Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. One message said Sengun is "a franchise player who can't shoot or defend." Another said "I can't trust Jabari to make a shot or get a stop." There were also shots at Devin Booker (called him a dictator who got all the credit when the Suns won but KD took all the blame when they lost), Kyrie Irving (accused him of acting like KD owed him something), and even Russell Westbrook (called him a "triple-double cocaine bear").
The account also compared Devin Booker and former Suns coach Frank Vogel to "Stalin and Hitler. Mussolini and Kim Jong Un." Absolutely unhinged stuff. The account is now locked. Durant hasn't commented. But the internet is 99% sure it's him because (1) people in the group chats knew it was him, (2) it sounds exactly like his tweeting voice, and (3) we already know he's addicted to Twitter. KD admitted back in 2017 that he uses burners, and in 2020 he straight up said "I still have burners that I use for sure."
Video from the All-Star Game showed Durant looking visibly stressed, pacing around on his phone before tip-off while everyone else was laughing and having fun. If this really is his burner, he just torched half the league while sitting courtside at All-Star Weekend. All-time content.
"I don't want to build up all this hate towards media or fans. So I just say what I feel in the moment."
— Kevin Durant on The Pivot podcast, explaining why he uses burner accounts
👑
Giannis told reporters at All-Star Weekend: "As of today, I'm committed to Milwaukee." Which is exactly the kind of non-answer that makes everyone think he's gone. His extension window opens in October. The Bucks didn't trade him at the deadline. He's missed 39 games with lower leg injuries. This is the summer's biggest story and everyone knows it.
🤷
LeBron on retirement: "When I know, you guys will know." Still won't commit. The Cleveland reunion rumors are getting louder. Cavs now have Harden, Mitchell, Mobley and Allen. That's a real contender. LeBron going home for one last run makes too much sense.
🏀
Wemby was the MVP of All-Star Weekend without winning MVP. He played with max effort in every game, set the tone, and forced everyone else to actually compete. After the game, Ant credited Wemby for making it competitive: "He set the tone in the first game and we all had to match his energy." Respect.
🎙️
Barack Obama showed up on the NBC broadcast and told everyone the USA vs World format fixed the All-Star Game. "I know a lot of people have been concerned about the All-Star Game not seeing as much effort. Today we saw it. Whenever you get an international team against an American team, they want to compete." Facts.
📺
8.8 million viewers watched the All-Star Game. Biggest audience since 2011. The new format is working. NBC is back after 24 years. The energy is different. This is what the NBA needed.
🔄
Steph Curry said he'll "check with Klay" about joining him in Phoenix for the 2027 3-Point Contest. Splash Brothers reunion? Curry missed this year's game with a sore knee but says he'll be back next year. Warriors fans in shambles.
📅
The NBA season resumes Thursday with 10 games. First games back: Sixers vs Hawks, Cavs vs Nets, Wizards vs Pacers, Hornets vs Rockets, Knicks vs Pistons. Detroit still leads the East at 38-13. OKC leads the West at 40-12. Playoff race is wide open.
🎯
Adam Silver on tanking: "It feels worse this year." The league is looking for solutions. The 2026 draft class is stacked and everyone knows it. Kings, Jazz, Wizards, Mavs and Grizzlies are all racing to the bottom. It's getting ugly.
☕ Daily Take
"Victor Wembanyama just did more for the All-Star Game in 12 minutes than Adam Silver did in 10 years."
The NBA tried everything to fix All-Star Weekend. New formats, new incentives, begging players to try harder. Nothing worked. Then Wemby showed up, decided he was playing for national pride, and immediately everyone else had to match his energy or look like idiots on live TV. One 20-year-old French kid saved the entire event by refusing to play the exhibition game like an exhibition. The league should send him a check.