Luka Doncic hits back at Kevin Durant’s criticism at the All-Star game
Every year, the NBA All-Star Game is heavily criticized by fans. Over the past few decades, the All-Star Game has morphed from a semi-rivalry game between two conferences to a famous shootout between two teams. There have been good All-Star games, but they have been few and far between. Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant called Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic guilty. for a laissez-faire attitude toward the All-Star Game.
“You should ask the Europeans and the world team if they’re going to compete,” Durant said earlier. “If you look at Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic now, let’s go back and look at what they’re doing at the All-Star game. Is it a competition? So, we didn’t question what they did. But we’ll ask the old heads, and the Americans.”
The quote caused a lot of buzz: It’s rare for a player to publicly call out his peers, and Durant was playing against two of the best players in the league. Now Doncic has responded to Durant’s comments. In a recent interview with the Slovenian sports site SportsKlub, the Lakers star pointed out that the poor treatment of the All-Star Game was in place before he and Jokic entered the league.
“When I first came to the All-Star game, it was like that, so I don’t know why he singled us out,” Doncic said. “But I think it will be better because the world is against the US.”
Indeed, the Lakers star was right: The World vs. USA format seemed to light a fire under the players. Many fans praised the efforts of Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama during the game. Team USA ended up winning thanks to Edwards, but most spectators were happy to get a fun and competitive game for once.
Doncic won his sixth All-Star selection this season and his fifth selection as a starter. The Lakers star is averaging 32.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game this season. LA is fifth in the West at 33-21 before the All-Star Game.
2026-02-16 14:45:00
