ALL-STAR GAME

February 15, 2026

Deni Avdija

World

Postgame Press Conference

Q. Could you just talk about your first All-Star experience and how you're coming away from the weekend? And also the competitiveness of the game and your thoughts on how that went, particularly in regards to how much people talked about wanting it to be a more competitive game?

DENI AVDIJA: First of all, it was a long weekend. I'm going to say that. The first game was good, like we had a chance to warm up. The second game, we just went out on the court immediately. So that was a little rough.

But it was a competitive game. People really brought it. I was happy. I was just playing, trying to do the best I can. Yeah, that's about it.

Q. With this being your first All-Star experience, was it important to you to be kind of a more competitive game given some of the criticisms about the All-Star Game the past few years?

DENI AVDIJA: For sure, I think it was competitive. People really brought their effort and tried to play it hard. Some players took more shots than others, so you can't really control that.

You know, you're just out there trying to compete. We don't play together all the time. So we're trying to figure each other out. But we tried. Yeah, it was fun.

Q. Do you think the World format brought out more from you guys in terms of just bringing more juice than normal?

DENI AVDIJA: I think it brought more from the Stripes actually. (Laughter.) They were going at it.

Yeah, I think it brought some competitiveness with it, and it's a fun format. So it shows how the game went global, which is amazing to see.

I hope it's even going to expand, and people are about to understand that it's fun watching the All-Star Game. It's going to be a little more competitive, try to bring it back.

Q. You said it was a long weekend, but now reflecting back on the three days, did the experience live up to your expectations? Can you just elaborate on the highlights and what you enjoyed?

DENI AVDIJA: Yeah, just all the obligations you have to do, whether it's your -- I don't know, your shoe brand, your fans, the NBA itself, it's just fun to be around this league, these people. Great staff all around, great planning of the All-Star Weekend. It was hectic, but it was fun.

I was really enjoying the experience. Especially when it's your first time, you embrace everything a little better. But I hope I can be here for many years to come. Yeah, it wasn't so bad.

Q. Was Victor really as competitive as it seemed like? We saw the block there. We saw him get mad at the lack of defensive rotation towards the end of the game there. What was he really like in there?

DENI AVDIJA: We saw that Victor was really competitive, so we tried to give him the ball and go to work, man, because we saw he was really into it.

I mean, we were just there for each other honestly. Victor was cooking. He was playing good. Just feed him the ball. It's fine.

Q. You said like this game brought out the juice in everybody. Would you like the world to run back against USA, and would you like this to stay for a while?

DENI AVDIJA: Yeah, just the NBA, they're pretty creative and have ideas of spicing it up with the games. It was pretty competitive, and I like it. Since the game got so global, it is really fun to watch the World versus U.S. But it's a cool format, I'm going to say.