The annual All-Star celebrity game brings actors and actresses, musicians, NBA legends, and WNBA stars all under one building for an entertaining game of basketball.
For the past three years, comedic actor Kevin Hart has been winning the MVP award for this game. He will make his return this year to defend his crown at the World’s Most Famous Arena, the Madison Square Garden. Joining him will be film star Ansel Elgort, Anthony Anderson from “Black-ish,” actor and musician Common, “American’s Got Talent” host Nick Cannon, Little League star Mo’en Davis, actor Michael Rapaport, “NBA Inside Stuff” co-host Kristen Ledlow, Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, musician Win Butler, actor Chadwick Boseman, U.S. Paralympic athlete Blake Leeper, NBA legends Allan Houston and Chris Mullin, Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera, and WNBA stars Shoni Schimmel, Tina Charles, and Skylar Diggins, who is making her second consecutive appearance.
New York Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony and Knicks number one fan, Spike Lee, will be the coaches this year.
The celebrity game is usually packed with hysterical antics from the actors, especially Kevin Hart, a lot of friendly trash talking, and wild, out of control game play. Not much scoring happens during the game since, of course, not many of the participants are basketball athletes. The joy of the game is the comedic style of play between these celebrities.
The game will be four, eight-minute quarters with the clock running at all times, except when a timeout is called.
Last year, the East team won, led by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, but the fans voted for Kevin Hart to be the MVP despite his poor performance and the West team losing. Duncan scored a celebrity game record 20 points to go with 11 rebounds and six assists. Graciously, Hart handed the MVP award to Duncan, as he was more deserving of it.
We should be in for another entertaining one when the Sprint Celebrity Game tips off on Friday, February 13th, at 7 pm Eastern Standard Time on ESPN at the Madison Square Garden.