Anthony Edwards delivered more than just highlight plays at the 2026 NBA All-Star Game. After earning Most Valuable Player honors Sunday night at the Intuit Dome, the Minnesota Timberwolves guard capped the evening by giving a young fan his armband, turning a championship moment into a personal memory that will likely last far longer than the box score.
Edwards appeared genuinely surprised when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced his name as the recipient of the Kobe Bryant Trophy. The 75th edition of the All-Star Game introduced a new format featuring four mini-games, each lasting 12 minutes, which made tracking the MVP race more complicated than usual.
Media voters had to evaluate performances across multiple short contests rather than a single traditional matchup. There was no clear statistical runaway. Rivals such as Kawhi Leonard and Victor Wembanyama saw their teams fall in their final games of the night, opening the door for Edwards.
Edwards had everything going for him
Ultimately, it was the Timberwolves’ 24-year-old star who stood out as the most impactful player on the winning USA Stars squad, which survived the round-robin, single-day tournament. “It means a lot,” Edwards said after receiving the trophy. “I love Minnesota, and I know Minnesota loves me. I said I wasn’t going to put on a show for them, but I gave them a show.”
The award carries added significance, bearing the name of Kobe Bryant, who won All-Star MVP four times during his career. For Edwards, whose personality and confidence have made him one of the league’s rising faces, the honor marked another milestone.
His decisive impact came in the fourth and final game of the night. Though his stat line in that contest was modest-eight points on 3-of-5 shooting-his cumulative production told a stronger story. Across 26 total minutes, Edwards scored 32 points while shooting 13-of-22 from the field and 6-of-15 from three-point range.
A confussion about the new format
He buried a three-pointer that forced overtime in his team’s opening game and then gave them the lead moments later. In another contest, he hit a shot from deep that briefly led to confusion about the new format.
“We didn’t know you play the whole 12 minutes out,” Edwards said. “We thought it was the first to 40. I hit a 3 to get to 40, and we thought the game was over. [De’Aaron] Fox came back and hit a three, and they won. I kind of felt like we got wigged out, but it’s all good.”
After the final buzzer and the trophy presentation, Edwards made his way toward the stands. Spotting a young fan calling out to him, he removed his armband and handed it over, drawing cheers from nearby spectators. The gesture provided a fitting close to a night in which Edwards combined competitive edge with approachability.
For a player who insists he wasn’t trying to put on a show, Edwards left the building having done exactly that-both on the court and in the crowd.
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