Victor Wembanyama hit the headlines on the very first day of the All-Star weekend for his antics. While he made his priorities clear early on, what stole the show was an unwarranted controversy during the game, and Wemby’s locker room adventures brought him some more attention, and some confused reactions from teammate Nikola Jokic…

“You really brought a book?” the Denver star asked Wembenyama, to which the latter responded, “I read before every game.” No small talk, no distractions, just hooping business it seems. Now add to that his no-nonsense attitude, and it looked like the 21-year-old was in no mood for appeasing anyone.

On February 3, the French star noted with his usual swagger, and no-nonsense attitude, “I don’t have any interest in making friends or trying to do anything. I’m here for work,” making it clear that he was preparing to stand out among his peers. Well, Wembenyama did stand out—but not in a way he would’ve ideally wanted…

The controversial incident unfolded during the Skills challenge when the French star and his Spurs teammate Chris Paul tried to “hack” their way through. The challenge included shooting from three different locations on the floor, bounce passes, chest passes, and dribbling, as fast as possible. As per The Associated Press, “on the shots—from the corner over an automated defender, near the top of the arc and at the elbow — players had to either make one or shoot three, whichever came first”. However, what the Spurs teammates did instead was simply fling the balls toward the basket in a half-hearted effort, with the fastest time of 47.9 seconds. The result?

A stadium full of boos, Cleveland Caveliers guard Donovan Mitchell raising both his hands to give the duo a thumbs-down, and a verdict that took away any color or joy that Paul and Wemby had on their faces. As the two exited the court after some praising motions toward each other, and settled on the benches, an NBA executive approached them and informed, “I talked to everybody, and they said you are….” as the background noise made it harder for us and even Wembenyama to hear. “What?” he asked, to which the executive answered again—“Disqualified.”

“Qualified?” Wemby asked again, as if he didn’t want to believe what he was hearing, prompting both Paul and the NBA personnel to firmly state again, “Disqualified!” While Paul made a faint effort of laughing off the embarrassing situation, his teammate looked close to livid, and in disbelief. Well, as hard as it is to belief, the idea was not Paul’s (who’s the most expected suspect given his status as a 20-year veteran), but Wemby himself.

Talking about the incident later, he confessed, “I don’t regret it. I think it was a good idea…Was that right? I don’t know. I mean, if the challenge lets us do that….There’s a loophole, it means we’re not the problem.” Draymond Green, on the other hand, also extended a much-needed voice of support later. “It definitely sucked to see them throwing the ball like that. But what I will say is Wemby walked around the court asking everybody, ‘Make one or three attempts?’ And Wemby said, ‘Oh, so I can get all three of them up there?’ So, he asked. Now, he may not have asked the right people. But I will say, in Wemby’s defense, he did ask a lot of people.”

“The old man followed the rookie right off the cliff,” Green hilariously noted further. As for Paul, he had no regrets either, saying, “We tried something that we thought could win. To see if we had the best time, so..it was fun.” Unfortunately, that was not Wembenyama’s only miss…

…as Stephen Curry took home the MVP of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. The Spurs star’s reaction? A mix of both bitterness, and gratitude. He said on Sunday night as per ESPN‘s Michael C. Wright, “I’ll try to cool down and forget a little bit about basketball for 48 hours, that’s it. I’ll put this on my résumé. It’s done. I didn’t make any friends. But I learned a lot. I asked a lot of questions, and I got a lot of very interesting answers. It was a pleasure to share the floor with these experienced players. “

Looks like the unfortunate disqualification only reinforced Wembanyama’s belief that the All-Star Game needs an energy boost.

Victor Wembanyama’s biggest takeaway from his first All-Star appearance resonates with the fans

The San Antonio Spurs superstar made his All-Star debut unforgettable. The 21‐year‐old French native showed the hype becomes real when you give 100%. This year’s All-Star Game had a new, tournament-style format that changed the usual flow, but Wemby embraced the challenge like a true underdog in a summer blockbuster.

Wembanyama’s focus was crystal clear. As he put it, “My biggest takeaway is that it’s possible to give a hundred percent on that court, to play hard, to play your a– off,” Wembanyama said after the All-Star finals. “And, for me, it’s the only way to play basketball, and I think it’ll only make the game better.” His words hit the home run and which even Barry Bonds would be proud of.

Playing for Chuck’s Global Stars, he dropped 17 points, snagged 7 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots on 8-of-11 shooting. The stat sheet looked great. But his heart on display truly captivated the crowd. A lighting bolt idea just came through similar to how many players speak about the All-Star – World vs America contest!

Although the race-to-40 format cut his minutes short compared to a traditional 12-minute quarter-game, Wembanyama still dropped jaw-dropping plays. Highlights included a huge block on Cade Cunningham and two dunks off assists from Jokic and Trae Young.

After the game, Wembanyama admitted the new format exceeded his expectations, even though the energy was a bit inconsistent. Despite Adam Silver’s vision, many fans felt the All-Star Game still missed the mark, suggesting the NBA might need another creative reboot.

To sum up, Adam Silver must come out with creative ideas to create hype around the All-Star game. If not, the NBA risks one of the unique events to go into the wilderness.