Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant is one of the players most synonymous with the NBA All-Star Game. His 18 All-Star appearances trails only LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and he is one of only two people to win the All-Star Game MVP four times, hence why the trophy was named after him.
The 2026 recipient of the Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP was Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who led the USA Stars team to the championship over the USA Stripes squad and the World Team and totaled 32 points and nine rebounds across the contests.
Edwards was happy to win the award and was one of the main players who contributed to the increased intensity throughout this year’s game. And afterwards, the young star noted that he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Bryant:
“Hopefully I can get three more trophies like Kobe Bryant.”
– 2026 @Kia All-Star MVP Anthony Edwards pic.twitter.com/Q1XtJSjCak
— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2026
Edwards is already one of the NBA’s brightest stars at just 24 years old and certainly has some similarities to the Lakers legend. Not only is Edwards’ unreal scoring ability and athleticism as a shooting guard similar to that of a young Kobe, but he also possesses the brashness, attitude and competitiveness to go at any player on the court regardless of who it is.
That being on display during the All-Star Game is something Bryant would have enjoyed as he was always a proponent of players going at each other and competing during the exhibition. The game had lost must of its luster over time as players barely tried and the effort was abysmal, but this year’s format brought back some of that competition and it made for a much more enjoyable experience.
There aren’t many players in the NBA who really channel that mindset and fierceness that Kobe displayed throughout his legendary career, but Edwards is one of those who embodies much of what ge was all about. He was deserving of his first All-Star Game MVP and he surely has plenty more accolades coming as his career is still just in the early stages.
Lakers’ Luka Doncic’s hamstring ‘felt good’ in All-Star Game
Someone else who has that fearlessness and attitude like Kobe Bryant is current Lakers superstar Luka Doncic, who only briefly suited up in the All-Star Game as he is just recovering from a hamstring injury. But Doncic wanted to make an appearance for the fans who voted for him and said the hamstring felt good in his time on the court.
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