“It was better than I expected,” said Wembanyama.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs players Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle had a successful 2025 NBA All-Star weekend.
Castle took home the 2025 Rising Stars MVP trophy, forcing defending Slam Dunk champion Mac McClung to the brink in the finals, and helped the Rising Stars team to qualify for the new NBA All-Star Game tournament format.
Wemby scored 11 points in the All-Star Game finals and tried to hack the Skills Challenge event, but he and Chris Paul were disqualified for their attempt to expose a loophole.
Overall, it was a solid weekend for the San Antonio teammates, but they differ on the Sunday game’s new tournament-style format.
The new approach is the league’s attempt to inject competition into the main event after years of lackluster games and no defense played.
It accomplished that goal to a degree, as the players played defense. The competition rose when a team was close to scoring 40 points to win the game.
“It was better than I expected. The format, 40 points, I think it worked out really well,” Wemby said following the game. “It felt like there were high stakes in the games. It was better than I expected, and that format, I think it worked pretty well.”
Wemby’s All-Star teammate, OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, echoed this sentiment and felt it did improve the game.
“I had fun nonetheless. I feel like it was a little bit more towards the competitive side tonight, which is a good feeling. A step in the right direction,” he said.
However, Castle was not a big fan of the tournament-style game and expressed his desire to see the NBA’s annual game return to its traditional roots.
“I would go back to the East-West that they had going,” Castle said. “I don’t remember the last year they stopped that, but I was a fan of East-West.”
The Spurs guard did not wholly feel the format fell short. He appreciated the spike in competitiveness it brought.
“It was definitely nice to be part of. I feel like that’s the big thing with guys not playing hard, not trying to get hurt. I understand that, too. But I feel like guys could play a little harder. I felt like they played hard,” he added.
It remains unclear whether the NBA will continue with the new format next season, tweak it, or return to the old way, as Castle prefers.
But it is clear: Castle and Wemby enjoyed the weekend regardless of the game’s format.
“I’m proud of being an All-Star. I’m proud of giving everything that I have tonight,” Wemby said.
Said Castle: “I’d say it was a successful weekend. I got to participate in events all three days. As a rookie, I feel like that’s a successful weekend.”