NBA stars vote for U.S. vs. World matchup for All-Star Game

NBA stars like Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmo have liked the idea of US vs World matchup for the All-Star game. In the recent All-Star format, Shaq OG’s registered a 41-25 win against Chuck’s Global Stars on Monday.

Steph Curry was the match’s MVP after he scored 12 points, including a half-court three-pointer.

“I would love to. My opinion is that it’s more purposeful,” Wembanyama said. “There’s more pride in it. More stakes.”

“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” said Antetokounmpo, a native of Greece who is of Nigerian descent. “I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.”

The latest format for the All-Star Game was introduced for this year after huge scores in the previous editions. The first team to get to 40 points was adjudged the winner.

“I think that when you get events like this, All-Star Weekend, we don’t worry about the competition,” said 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. “It’s just more about celebrating the basketball family and the community around this time. It shows how united we are as a group, as a basketball community, and how we can unite the rest of the world with what we do, as well. It’s a cool time.”

Nikola Jokic reckons the USA has more talented players than the rest of the players as more players come from the States.

“The USA has more talented players than the rest of the world,” said Jokic, the three-time MVP from Serbia who led Denver to the NBA title in 2023. “Europe and the rest of the world has talented players, I think, but the majority of the players are coming from USA.”

According to the latest data, almost 70% of players in the NBA are American.