Victor Wembanyama saw how France nearly knocked off a star-studded Team USA squad in the gold medal round of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Same goes for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led Greece in giving the Americans all they could handle before falling short in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Another thing both international stars have in common? They loved the idea of a "USA vs. World" main event at the All-Star weekend.
“I would love to. My opinion is that it’s more purposeful. There’s more pride in it. More stakes,” Wembanyama said on his thoughts of the notion, when asked during his first All-Star experience this year at San Francisco, California.
The latest midseason spectacle featured a new NBA All-Star format with Team Shaq ruling the event and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry copping a second tournament MVP honors.
Curry and Co. dominated Wembanyama, Antetokounmpo– although he did not play due to injury– and Team Chuck in the final round to cap off the 74th edition of the event.
[ALSO READ: Steph Curry wins MVP as Shaq's OGs win revamped NBA All-Star Game]
The 30-year-old Greek superstar, who was voted to ninth career All-Star selection, watched from the sidelines.
Asked if he’d be on board with such a move of a USA-vs-World All-Star main event, the two-time league MVP sounded ecstatic.
“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” the Milwaukee Bucks star spoke.
Giannis knew what time it was 🦌😂
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2025
He takes on his @Bucks teammate Dame in the #NBAAllStar Championship as Shaq's OGs plays Chuck's Global Stars ??
(Via @NBA)
“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 one-time champion and Finals MVP said.
This year alone, seven players selected in the All Star game are international players: Wembanyama, Antetokounmpo, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Houston’s Alperen Sengun.
It would have been eight if Luka Doncic got the nod, but he’s almost always an All-Star lock as well.
[ALSO READ: All-Star: James, Davis reunite on Team Shaq; Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Wembanyama head Team Chuck]
Kyrie Irving, who played For Team USA in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics, was born in Australia and is reportedly in the process of changing basketball federations just in time for the 2028 LA Games.
“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, like having Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], [Nikola] Jokic, Luka [Doncic], Wemby [Victor Wembanyama], [Karl-Anthony] Towns, [Alperen] Sengun. … Going against the best U.S. players, I think it would be fun,” the Greek Freak added.
Jokic, who’s Serbian squad almost pulled off a major upset over the Americans in the Paris 2024 semifinals, still believes the US is still on top in terms of having the best players around the world.
“I think European players, you can see that they can -- USA has more talented players than the rest of the world. Europe and the rest of the world has talented players, I think, but the majority of the players are coming from the USA.”
Who knows what the future holds, but for the meantime, Antetokounmpo is optimistic that the league can finally zero in on the USA vs World All-Star main event.
“I think it would be fun. I think that would be the best format,” he added.
[ALSO READ: USA vs the world? The 2025 NBA All-Star Game might just be the start]
