The All-Star Weekend was missing more than just fierce competition. A few verbal jabs going into Sunday’s main event spiced up the festivities. The tournament is now over, and Team World barely lasted the preliminaries with younger NBA stars toppling them. Anthony Edwards was named MVP, and now he just needed to stir that pot further. His target wasn’t LeBron James or Kevin Durant. He instead fueled his rivalry with Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.

Maybe Edwards took his cue from his Team USA teammate, Durant, but he had some big words for them after his MVP night.

“No shade towards Luka and Jokic, but they are two of the best players in the league, and they are not trying to play in the All-Star Game,” the 24-year-old guard said after scoring 32 points in three games.

Doncic (hamstring strain) and Jokic (knee bone bruise) faced some heat from the fanbase as injuries limited their playing time tonight. However, logically put, even if they forced themselves into more action today, they wouldn’t have played hard, something that fans have criticized for years. From the 2024 Olympics to their NBA clashes and the All-Star Game, Edwards has a special kind of rivalry with international players, and his quote went viral immediately.

However, the same lackluster energy narrative couldn’t be attached to Victor Wembanyama. The French phenom was the anchor of Team World, which fell short against both USA squads. Edwards went out of his way to credit him for making the entire tournament entertaining. In fact, the San Antonio Spurs star just stayed true to his word. A few days before the weekend, Wembanyama promised fans that he’d play his heart out, no matter what.

However, Edwards’ animosity toward Doncic and Jokic’s apparent lack of effort is neither sudden nor the only instance.

The real USA vs World clash was off the court

The friction brewed long before tip-off at the Intuit Dome on media day.

“Are y’all gonna give more effort this year, or is it kind of like ‘It is what it is’ at this point?” a reporter pointedly asked Edwards.

“Yeah, it is what it is at this point,” Edwards said at the time.

Clearly, he wasn’t talking about himself or Team Stars and Team Stripes. He was extending the war of words Kevin Durant had started. The Houston Rockets veteran publicly shamed the league for coddling the European stars.

“You should ask the Europeans, the World Team, if they want to compete,” Durant said. “Look at Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, let’s go back and look at what they do at the All-Star Game. Is that competition?”

Really, Durant didn’t need a burner account to trash-talk about anyone this time. Doncic heard his message and took it as lighthearted banter.

“It was the same when I played in my first All-Star game, so I don’t know why KD mentioned me and Jokic,” Doncic said on Saturday.

Doncic wanted to play, but it translated to just five minutes in the first game, and he never returned to the court for the rest of the night. He was, however, arguing for foul calls on his Los Angeles Lakers teammate, James, at one point.

On the other hand, Jokic, who also saw minimal action tonight, made no effort to fix the narrative.

“I’m gonna play how I play every year,” Jokic bluntly said. “I’m not sure that it’s going to bring another fire to me because I play every game the same. To me, no.”

The results on the court ultimately validated Edwards and Durant’s frustrations. While Team World sat out its best players for stretches to preserve health, Edwards turned the final round into a fierce showcase of intensity, and his comments showed that he felt insulted that the international stars didn’t match it.