Some fierce competition was not all that was missing in the All-Star Weekend. A little bit of drama and verbal jabs going into Sunday’s main event spiced up the festivities. The tournament’s over, Team World barely lasted the prelimenaries, the younger NBA squad toppled the vets, and Anthony Edwards was named MVP. Now he just needed to stir the pot further. His target wasn’t the old guard like LeBron James and Kevin Durant though. This time he fueled his rivalry with certain international stars.

From the 2024 Olympics, to their NBA clashes, and the All-Star Game, Anthony Edwards’ got a special kind of rivalry with the international players. Especially Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic. Maybe he took his cue from his Team USA teammate, Kevin Durant, but he had some big words for them after his MVP night.

“No shade towards Luka and Jokic, but like, they two of the best players in the league, they not tryna play in the All-Star game,” Edwards remarked in his post-game interview.

Doncic and Jokic are facing more heat among the European squad as injuries limited their participation tonight. Yet Ant’s quote immediately went viral as a stinging indictment of the effort levels from the league’s MVP frontrunners.

The same lacklustre energy couldn’t be said about Victor Wembanyama. Wemby was the anchor of Team World that fell short against the USA squads. Edwards went out of the way to credit Wemby for making the entire tournament entertaining.

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However, his animosity for Doncic and Jokic’s apparent lack of effort is not sudden. Nor is it the only one.

The real USA vs World clash was off the court

The friction was brewing long before tip-off at the Intuit Dome. During media day, a reporter pointedly asked Edwards, “Are y’all gonna give more effort this year or is it kind of like ‘it is what it is’ at this point?” Edwards’ response at the time, “Yeah, it is what it is at this point,” seemed to signal another year of lackluster hoops.

Clearly he wasn’t talking about himself or Team Stars and Team Stripes. He was extending the war of words Kevin Durant had started.

Durant publicly shamed the league for coddling the European stars, stating, “You should ask the Europeans, the World Team, if they want to compete. 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, KD didn’t need a burner account to talk trash about anyone when he’s scathing on a microphone. His message was heard by Doncic at least. And the Slovenian 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,” he said on Saturday. Doncic’s participation was questionable with hamstring strain but he wanted to participate in the game. That however translated to 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 Lakers teammate, LeBron James at one point.

On the other hand, Nikola Jokic made no effort to fix the narrative. He outrightly said, “I’m gonna play how I play every year. I’m not sure that it’s going to bring another fire to me because I play every game the same. To me, no,” about his level of effort. He too saw minimal action tonight.

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 showcase of fierce intensity. Yet his comments showed that he felt insulted that the international stars didn’t even bother to show up.