The 2026 NBA All-Star Game received glowing reviews, being one of the most competitive games in over a decade. The players were competitive, defense was actually played, and some players earned legit free-throw attempts for getting fouled on their way to the basket.

Three players that really stood out were Victor Wembanyama, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Edwards, with the Minnesota Timberwolves guard taking home the MVP honors for his performance across the three games he played. However, he gave credit to Team World's star for setting the tone.

After taking home the MVP honors, Edwards shared in a postgame press conference that it was Wembanyama who set the tone early, scoring 14 points in the first game of the Round Robin between Team World and Team Stars.

"He set the tone; it was definitely competitive, with all three teams. I feel like the old heads played hard too, they was playing real good defense. But yeah, he set the tone man, and it woke me up for sure," Edwards said.

It was only the championship game that was decided by a wide margin, as two of the three Round Robin games ended on a buzzer-beater, while Wembanyama's three-pointer to force overtime against Team Stripes came up short in the final Round Robin game.

While Team Stars ended up taking home the victory, they lost to Team Stripes in their first head-to-head, 42-40, with De'Aaron Fox drilling a three-pointer to put them away. It was a different story in the next matchup, as Edwards attributed it to the words from Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham.

"It felt good. Cade [Cunningham], before we walked out, Cade was like, 'we got to get our lick back.' So, we came out there and stumped on them," he added.

Team Stars definitely got their lick back, winning 47-21 in a dominant performance in the championship game against a Stripes team that played three games in a row.

It's been a rocky season for the Timberwolves, but a good moment for them and Edwards to secure the All-Star Game MVP trophy. If Minnesota is going to make it far in the postseason this year, it'll come on the back of Anthony Edwards, and his performance on Sunday showed he's capable of leading the way.

Minnesota comes out of the All-Star break with the sixth seed in the Western Conference, but only a few games separate them from jumping all the way up to the third seed.