NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Watch

In cooperation with FIVE Magazine

The NBA All Star Weekend not only brings together the best athletes but also many many celebrities who are oftentimes friends with each other. It’s a a great occasion to meet up without the pressures of a regular game day. We’ve seen celebs help out in the Slam Dunk Contest, perform during halftime or just hang out with the ballers. The annual Celebrity Game which kicks off the weekend is of course the epitome of this get-together.

2016 NBA All Star Celebrity Game

For this year’s All Star Celebrity Game in Toronto, Team USA faces up against Team Canada. Both teams have a great mix of NBA legends, current WNBA superstars, celebs from different areas and legendary coaches. Here are the line-ups.

Team USA | Coach: Kevin Hart

Anthony Anderson (actor), Chauncey Billups (NBA legend), Muggsy Bogues (NBA legend), Nick Cannon (actor), Elena Delle Donne (WNBA superstar), Bryshere Y. Gray (actor), Mars Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks owner), Joel David Moore (actor) and Jason Sudeikis (actor and sneakerhead – watch out for his shoe game!)

Team Canada | Coach: Drake | Assistant Coaches: Steve Nash & José Bautista

Win Butler (singer/Arcade Fire), Rick Fox (NBA TV analyst), Stephan James (actor), Tracy McGrady (NBA legend), Milos Raonic (tennis player), Drew Scott (TV host), Johnathan Scott (TV host), Tammy Sutton-Brown (former WNBA player), Kris Wu (actor/singer)

Courtside and halftime show

Over the years, the halftime show has become more and more important, pretty much bigger and better. With the All Star Game taking place in Toronto, having Drake involved in the Celebrity Game and all, you would expect him to perform during halftime, right? Apparently, the NBA had other plans. OK, we get it. Maybe Drake is too busy. After all he has to coach Team Canada. Surely, there are some other big artists who can fill in. Somehow in this thought process though the NBA came to the conclusion that the next best thing would be … Sting. Yeah, right. This decision really is quite odd. The Washington Post recently posted a brilliant visualization to demonstrate the relationship between Sting fans, NBA fans and Canadians.

That pretty much sums it up. Basketball is the most progressive sport in the US. According to a 2013 survey the NBA has the youngest TV audience of all major sports. It’s not a long shot to assume that many of the viewers have never even heard of Sting before. I know Sting though, being a little bit older than the average NBA fan. And I have to say I’m biased. I have to listen to Sting all the time. Somehow it has become the soundtrack of choice when my girlfriend and I go on a road trip. Just to clarify, I drive and she is in charge of selecting the music. Somehow she always manages to slip in the damned Police CD. And even if there’s no CD around, like in a rental car, “Roxanne” always – ALWAYS – plays on the radio. So you can imagine that I’m not particularly looking forward to this halftime performance. But after all there’s a scenario which could play out quite well. Toronto 2016 will be Kobe Bryant’s last All Star Game. In the past, we’ve seen Mariah Carey use the occasion to pay tribute to Michael Jordan when it was his time to leave the big stage in 2003. So, Toronto 2016 + Kobe + Sting + “I’ll be missing you”? Why not?

With that being said let’s look back at some of the best halftime performances and player introductions so far and let’s begin with Mariah’s MJ tribute.

2011 Rihanna with Kanye West and Drake

Pharrell Williams and Friends introduce the 2014 NBA All Stars

2015 Ariane Grande & Nicki Minaj

2013 Alicia Keys

2014 Trombone Short & Friends with a Tribute to New Orleans

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Now let’s take a closer look which celebrities were seen at All Star Games in the past few years.

2015 New York City

2014 New Orleans

2013 Houston

2012 Orlando