By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-02-16 21:20:00
全明星赛早已不复当年。它曾是一场星光熠熠、波澜壮阔的盛事，将世界上最顶尖的篮球天才聚集在属于他们的舞台上。同场竞技的天赋水平甚至足以挑战 NBA 总决赛和奥运会决赛，而球员们的表现也仿佛每个人都有所证明。然而，近年来，全明星赛的表现水平有所下降，它更多地变成了一种走形式的露面，仅仅是为了在简历上增添一次全明星入选记录，因为这能带来额外的收入，无论是合同中设定的奖金，还是作为达成超级顶薪续约的一个衡量标准。
比赛过程乏善可陈，防守端更是毫无强度——这或许是源于疲劳、懒惰、对受伤的恐惧，或者是这些因素的结合。而全明星周末的其他活动也变得重复且平庸，由于大牌球星参与度降低，比赛也变得不再那么引人入胜。更糟糕的是，由于多种可能的原因——高昂的票价、下午场的比赛时间（受冬奥会影响）以及观众对这项赛事的新鲜感逐渐消退等，今年的全明星周末上座率显得十分惨淡。
既然周五的新秀挑战赛通常是关注度最低的项目，而周六的各项赛事（尤其是扣篮大赛）也正失去光彩，那么拯救局面的重任就落在了近年来最不可靠的环节上：全明星赛正赛。经过多年对球队组建和比赛赛制的摸索——从队长选人制到单循环赛，最后到现在的美国队对阵世界队——NBA 迫切需要有人能站出来力挽狂澜。确实有人做到了，他就是马刺队的超级巨星维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。
文班亚马以极强的竞争心著称，他绝不会放过任何敷衍了事的机会。赛前他言出必行，表示自己会全力以赴，并希望其他人也能紧随其后。到了赛场上，他用行动证明了自己，果然带动了所有人。他开场便火力全开，在第一轮就贡献了一记扣篮、一个三分和两次盖帽。正如最终的全明星赛 MVP 安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 所说，文班通过努力打球定下了基调，其他人别无选择，只能给予回应。
全明星赛 MVP 安东尼·爱德华兹再次称赞维克托·文班亚马。
“我实话实说，是文班定下了基调。他上场后打得很卖力，我们不得不跟上他的节奏。” pic.twitter.com/yvDelkWCqL
— Josh Paredes (@ Josh810) 2026年2月16日
虽然文班所在的“世界队”可能遭遇两战皆负并无缘决赛，让他失去了争夺 MVP 奖杯的机会，但如果要评选整个全明星周末的 MVP，他当之无愧。
因此，无数赞誉正向他涌来，大家实质上将他视为全明星赛乃至整个全明星周末的救世主。
如果文班真的为未来的全明星赛设定了新的基调，那么下一步将是拯救整个全明星周末，而让扣篮大赛重新成为周六的重头戏将起到至关重要的作用。这是他和爱德华兹可以共同努力的方向。尽管他们在球场上可能是对手，但他们是联盟中竞争意识最强的两名球员，也是新一代球员的领军人物。希望他们能够联手，在未来开启全明星的新气象。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：How Victor Wembanyama saved the All-Star Game
How Victor Wembanyama saved the All-Star Game
The All-Star Game isn’t what it used to be. It used to be a star-studded, spectacular event that put the biggest basketball talents in the world on their own stage. The talent level on one court challenged even the NBA and Olympic Finals, and the players played like they had something to prove. However, in recent years, the performance level has dropped, and it has become more of a formality to simply show up and get the All-Star nod on the resume since it can lead to extra pay, be it bonuses built into contracts or a checkmark towards a supermax contract extension.
The play has been uninspiring with zero defensive effort — whether it’s out of exhaustion, laziness, fear of injury, or some of each — and the other events of the weekend have become repetitive, mundane, and not as interesting thanks in no small part to fewer stars participating. To make matters even worse for this year, All-Star Weekend was sparsely attended for multiple possible reasons: high prices, afternoon times (thanks to the Winter Olympics), the novelty of the event having worn off, etc.
With Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge typically the least popular event regardless, and the Saturday events losing luster (especially the Slam Dunk Contest), it was up to what had become the least reliable event in recent years to save the day: the All-Star Game itself. With multiple years of tinkering with the teams and format to find something that appealed — from captains drafting teams, to a round robin tournament, and finally a USA vs. The World format — the NBA needed SOMEONE to step up and save the day. Someone did, and he is none than Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.
Already known for being fiercely competitive, he wasn’t about take any opportunity lying down. After talking the talk before the game, saying he would play hard and hoped others would follow suit, he walked the walk, and sure enough everyone else followed. He flew out of the gates, opening round 1 with a dunk, three and two blocks, and as eventual ASG MVP Anthony Edwards put it, he set the tone by playing hard, and they had no choice but to respond.
All-Star Game MVP Anthony Edwards repeats his earlier praise of Victor Wembanyama.
“I ain’t gonna lie, Wemby set the tone. He came out playing hard, and we had to follow that.” pic.twitter.com/yvDelkWCqL
— Josh Paredes (@ Josh810) February 16, 2026
Wemby’s Team World may have gone 0-2 and missed the finale, giving him no shot at the MVP award, but if there was an MVP of the entire weekend to be handed out, he would win it.
As a result, plenty of praise is being heaped his way, essentially calling him the savior of the All-Star Game and weekend as a whole.
If Wemby truly has set a new tone that will followed going forward, the next step will be saving the entire weekend, and making The Dunk Contest the top Saturday event again will play a big role. That’s something he and Edwards could help do, and even though they may be rivals on the court, they’re two of the most competitive players in the league and the faces of this new generation of players. Hopefully together, they can set a new tone going forward.
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock