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Feb 27, 2025  |  
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Jerry Wilson


NextImg:RedState Sports Report: Hockey All-Stars Play for Country and Pride; Basketball All-Stars Not So Much

Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken assure me they’ve been hard at work during my unscheduled absence ...

Guys, if you’re going to pretend to be writing, at least point the typewriters in the right direction, okay?

Anyway, while the sports reporting here has been a bit sparse since the Super Bowl — my apologies; life kept getting in the way — the sports world itself has been trundling along. Much to Sammy and Karl’s delight, the biggest post-Super Bowl event this February has been hockey. In the “when they get it right they get it right” department, in lieu of the usual All-Star Game and break, the NHL put together a four-nation mini-tournament, not-so cleverly named the 4 Nations Face-Off, with the USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland playing for little more than bragging rights and national pride. As it turned out, that was more than enough, as each game was Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals on steroids. Although the championship game was disappointing, with Connor McDavid’s overtime goal doing something for his country (Canada) he had yet to pull off in the NHL, namely deliver a title over a US-based squad, the games were all dynamic hockey matches at the sport’s absolute best. Next year’s Winter Olympics men’s hockey, with full participation by NHL players, will be must-see TV.

Basketball junkies can only dream of such excitement during the NBA All-Star Weekend, held this year in San Francisco, much to Charles Barkley’s annoyance.

MORE: Sir Charles Weighs In: NBA Legend Barkley Won't Go to All-Star Game in 'Rat-Infested' Blue City

About the only thing memorable was the cool Grateful Dead-styled t-shirt Nike created for the event. Given how the weekend coincided with the 4 Nations tournament, not a few eyes were looking to the East Coast, specifically Montréal and Boston, which hosted the 4 Nations games. There was some wondering aloud whether a USA vs. The World game in place of the current format would give cause for the assembled players to play as if it mattered. Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo would be all in:

“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” said Antetokounmpo, a native of Greece who is of Nigerian descent. “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.”

If I were Antetokounmpo, I’d be excited as well to hit the floor with the likes of a healthy Victor Wembanyama, who, before being shut down for the year on February 20 with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, was amply demonstrating to one and all he is a generational talent. Add to the mix three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić. Given how Jokić would naturally play center, with Antetokounmpo at power forward, Wembanyama would most likely need to play the small forward position, which is not his natural spot on the floor. Still, he has the shooting ability and mobility to handle it easily. Toss in a backcourt consisting of superstuds Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Dončić, with legit stars such as Pascal Siakam, Alperen Sengun, and Karl-Anthony Towns in reserve, and you’ve got something.

Speaking of Dončić, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the Dallas Mavericks trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. As former NBA player and current Golden State Warriors radio color man Tom Tolbert stated in his podcast (language warning), you don’t trade a future statue outside your arena. You just don’t. Woe be unto the Mavericks front office if they do not win a championship in the next couple of years.

Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone.