FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. Smith responds to Adam Silver says Next Year’s ASG will feature Team USA vs Team World
the NBA All-Star game will look different than it ever has in 2026 during an appearance on FX1’s Breakfast Ball Commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday announced that the 2026 All-Star game will feature a USA versus World format sa you’ve called for this for a while now obviously you’ve talked about that’s what you want to see right hey Wendy good to have you with us i knew I was getting my second win for the second hour you’re going to have to match the Stephen A energy level it’s high it’s high he went He went in the coalware okay yeah he went in the coal plunge and he’s living his best life before he gets on that plane okay uh no essay in all seriousness though this is what you wanted right you wanted that intensity the USA versus international players talk to me desperately i desperately wanted it and you know I’ll leave it to Wendy and and the Jay because they both the NBA means as much to them as it does to me and they do an exceptional job of covering and giving us insight and tidbits that the average person doesn’t know along with myself so it’s like look I’ve been saying this and I’m going to share with y’all how passionate I have been for that i didn’t just speak to Commissioner Adam Silver about this years ago i went up to the league office and sat down with him and spoke about this couple of years ago it wasn’t the only thing we talked about of course that was one of the main things on my mind and the reason why is because internationally and please put Jay and Wendy up because I want to see them when I’m saying this i brought that up to them because the fervor that comes from the international community with their athletes we’ve heard a lot of things jay you’ve been all over this world wendy you’ve been all over this world tell me one time when it involved a player in Europe a player overseas um with an event whether it’s their regular season games whether it’s a tournament or whatever where complacency was ever a subject matter it doesn’t happen you have people literally that would be scared to walk the streets if somebody was questioning their fervor in a competitive matchup because they looked at them and they felt they weren’t giving enough effort juxtapose that to NBA Allstar weekend what the players not all of them we’re not we not that’s why we’re not naming names but we all know who some of them are what the players have done to dilute the importance to dilute the significance of NBA Allstar weaking is a crime it is a crime irvin Magic Johnson once told somebody a couple of years ago “Why show up they don’t care why should I?” Irvin Magic Johnson the greatest point guard in the history of the game a fivetime champion when we talk about the Jordans and LeBrons and the Kobes of the world can we definitively say that there is another player in NBA history more responsible for the growth of the NBA than Iran Magic Johnson before Jordan went airborne on a pro level it was Magic Johnson that collaborated with Larry Bird to get the NBA embraced into the living rooms of American citizens without having to be on tape delay that’s how bad the NBA product was magic Johnson the one of the preeminent faces of all time in basketball didn’t want to come to the NBA All-Star weekend because of effort and so this competition right here I’m loving it because I’m saying the world community literally figuratively speaking in terms of his eyeballs are going to descend upon the Americans to say your game that you invented show that you care otherwise we’re going to call you out and the world is going to take notice because we know we don’t have to worry about the players from other nations coming after American players we know we don’t have to worry about that i love this it’s a beautiful idea well let’s just be honest about what this is this is an attempt to shame the players because Adam Silver and the league has tried all kinds of different things to get them to care right they tried money they tried to incentivize their play by giving them more money that did not work they tried to incentivize their play by their sense of duty and history a couple of years ago Adam Silver brought in these veterans these legends to talk to the players to try to get them to to feel the sense of uh of the need to invest in All-Star Weekend they they did it in Indiana which got this big history of basketball the players didn’t care and so now this is a move to hit them as Americans to go at an area where maybe they will feel a little bit of a pinch that if they get embarrassed as an American because the one thing that I’ve noticed covering international basketball that you see is you the American players the the the the the team USA stars get their backs up when they get criticized for the style of play in the NBA we saw this with Kevin Durant last year in the Olympics when some of the opposing teams said “Well they they just play an entertaining style of basketball in the NBA.” And and KD said entertaining you know he you know you know so it’s an attempt to find a way a spot where there will be a reaction they’re trying anything that they can to get a reaction and it’s sad you know you know when you’ve lost Magic Johnson as a viewer that’s a problem stephen A they’ve lost me as a viewer i did not consume one second of the All-Star game or whatever they called it this not only is it my job but obviously I’m invested as a as a believer i don’t have I couldn’t tell you one thing that happened on Sunday in San Francisco i didn’t watch one second of it and so I tell you who the star was the star was the star was Draymond Green now he might not should have said some of the things that he said given the chance first but he was the star of the weekend because of what he said and the reality is is that the NBA was like “Look at what we’re trying look at what y’all forced us to try.” So that’s what it was and by the way I hope it works but I’m skeptical I’m not I’m not skeptical at all so I So I’m with you Stephen a I’m going to say this um I don’t think this is an attempt to try to fix it Wendy i think this is the solution this is the solution and it’s team USA versus team world is the accountability basketball needs and and here’s what I will say about it when I spend time talking to Grant Hill who runs USA basketball we often talk about how difficult it is to make these type of decisions about how players that you may not think had the peak interest throughout the course of the regular season are dying to be a part of USA basketball because it taps into pride and a lot of players want to be a part of it and for me when you think about some of the names that are international superstars I will say to you this when Giannis lines up with Wimi lines up with the Joker they going to want to kick their ass they going to want to whoop it Stephen A they going they going to try to make it a point cuz there is that hunger and then if you wind up on the opposite side if you’re LeBron if you’re Steph if you’re KD if you’re Anthony Edwards we know who they are stephen A they going to answer that bell now if it’s sustainable for the next 10 years I’m not sure i don’t know but what I do know is are we going to get a great product next year because there ain’t no way in hell those guys are gonna back down from the type of fervor that the international players are going to try to bring to it and make a statement to it i if it doesn’t then Wendy it’s a it’s an embarrassment for basketball worldwide it’s an embarrassment wendy I was going to go ahead but what you want to say Wendy i was going to go but go ahead what you want to say i’m just I’m just saying I’ve Yes you can say that but unless they truly demonstrate that they care they’ll just say “Well the Olympics is when the USA verse world it’s not manufactured at all week.” Like I hope you guys are right i want to see it i want to feel it what I have witnessed over the last decade of All-Star weekends is so embarrassing that I’m not sure it can be saved i hope you’re right let Let me say this to you it can be saved Wendy it can be saved i’m going to be optimistic i know stop the press i’m going to be the enthusiastic one here Whitney you understand here’s the deal it can be saved partially because of what Jay said and something else the part that Jay said that’s right on the money is this giannis and those boys going to come for them and they gonna come to kick their ass and it’s going to be in LA too oh my god on USA turf oh my lord i mean yeah oh they they would love to do it that’s number one here’s the other thing and this applies less to the LeBron and the Curries of the world because they’re already international stars who’ve established their brands and it’s not going to be compromised but the business of the NBA brand the NV the NFL is trying to go global i mean I know baseball does but the baseball’s baseball’s popularity has dissipated over the years and they’re trying to recapture that when you talk about global iconic brands in the world of sports okay those are NBA players by and large and if you are if your respect from the international community um borders on distinguishing or or extinguishing because of effort because you took no pride in going up against these cats from other parts of the world and in in in competition on Allstar weekend oh that’s going to affect them individually as a business and we know how important that is to them so I think those things play a role as well along with pride along with the fact that these cats are going to come to kick their ass i will say this to you Wendy i think this is the last hope if this doesn’t work I think you’re going to see the NBA do away with Allstar weekend era and this era of players will forever be stained for the rest of their lives because Allstar weekend was banished because of a lack of effort that has never happened before molly you know football’s violent that’s why they do flag football stuff cuz football’s so violent and you can’t these guys oh my god effort listen the NBA Cup worked i’m excited to see it let’s Heat heat [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] heat [Music] [Music] heat [Music] heat heat [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] heat heat [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] heat heat [Music]
