At All-Star weekend last year, Victor Wembanyama was so serious about winning that he decided to find loopholes in the rules. He and then-San Antonio teammate Chris Paul were teamed up for the skills competition, thought they outsmarted it and wound up getting disqualified.
It wasn’t a great moment. But it was another example of how, to Wembanyama, winning is everything.
He’s already one of the faces of the NBA, already one of the faces of the game on a global stage, and this All-Star weekend in California might only raise his stock even higher - if that’s even possible at this point. The Spurs’ 7-foot-4 center from France is going to be one of the stars on the international squad in this new U.S. vs. the World format, and Wembanyama is making clear that he’s playing to win.
Considering how most All-Star weekends have gone in recent years, the league might find that to be a refreshing change.
"I’ve seen the All-Star Game and obviously, it hasn’t been competitive," Wembanyama said. "And I’ve always thought, myself, that if I was in there, I’m never stepping onto the court to lose or not care. Just like at home, I’m never stepping into a board game, not caring, thinking I’m going to lose or thinking it’s OK to lose."
This is what might separate his approach from other All-Stars. He’s serious about board games. In recent years, All-Star may as well have been a bored game. All dunks and 3-pointers, which the league grew to despise. Nobody expects players to bring a Game 7, NBA Finals approach to the All-Star Game, but Commissioner Adam Silver has long wanted players to simply take it just a little bit seriously.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson will lead one of the two U.S. teams in the All-Star mini-tournament, meaning he’ll be coaching against Wembanyama in at least one game - possibly two if their respective squads get to the title game. He knows Wembanyama will play hard; that’s a given. What that means, we’ll all find out on Sunday.
"I think there can be a level of competitive and playing hard that can strike a balance in a game like that, where it doesn’t feel maybe like it’s too unserious, I guess," Johnson said. "And I don’t know what that balance is and I think the players have to be the ones that set the tone in a situation like that and I think they also deserve the right - they’ve earned the right - to set that tone, whatever that tone might be.
"Those guys are there during a break for everybody else, and they give a lot of time and a lot of sacrifice to be there. And I think they all are very, very deserving to be able to voice whatever they think that experience or weekend should look like."
The Spurs are coming into the break flying, winners of six straight and sitting No. 2 in the Western Conference. Playoffs should be on Wembanyama's schedule for the first time, though he isn't acting like the Spurs have locked anything up quite yet.
"I’ve seen everybody put in the work. I’ve seen everybody sacrifice things, all different kind of things," Wembanyama said. "So, it's very believable, but doesn’t mean it was easy by any means."
The All-Star Game is already missing some All-Star power, with Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having been ruled out with injuries and Dallas' Cooper Flagg set to miss Rising Stars as well. But for as big of names as those three are — Steph is Steph, SGA is the reigning MVP from the champion Thunder and Flagg is already must-see TV - it’s easy to envision their absences just meaning more eyes on Wembanyama this weekend.
Look at what he did against a Los Angeles Lakers team that was missing Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves, among others, earlier this week: 25 points in the first quarter, 37 in the first half, finished with 40 because he barely played in the second half in a San Antonio rout.
It was classic Wemby, in a way. He didn’t care that the Lakers’ best players weren’t out there. It was a game, and in his mind, you always play games to win. It’ll be the same approach on Sunday night.
"I’ll be out there," Wembanyama said. "Might as well win."
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