It’s safe to say actress Alyssa Milano has a lot of sports-oriented fanboys, as she’s the perfect blend of babe and tomboy. She is always game to watch sports—live or on TV (including ESPN Classic)—and she’ll usually be rocking a sports-themed outfit of her own design. To celebrate the expansion of her sexy feminine clothing line for fans, TOUCH, into basketball, she dove into the 2008 All-Star festivities in New Orleans by serving as a coach for the McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. Her team lost, but the Who’s the Boss?, Melrose Place, and now My Name Is Earl actress still said afterward that she had “so much fun, I can’t even tell you.”

Your opposing coach at the McDonald’s All-Star Celebrity Game, Gabrielle Union, played basketball in high school. Do you think she had an unfair advantage?
Her team won, but it’s just because Allen Iverson came in during halftime and kicked butt.

What are some of your favorite things about basketball?
There’s constant movement, so it’s really easy to get into the game rather than allow yourself to reflect and get sentimental. It’s pretty amazing that you can see their bodies working. You can read their lips. You can hear them. You can see the expressions on their faces. It becomes just watching them emote energy. When things go wrong, you can tell. Plus, it’s fast and they’re such amazing athletes.

You’ve lived in Los Angeles forever, but you’re a New Yorker at the roots. Who do you root for at a Lakers/Knicks game?
The Knicks. I’m not really a Lakers fan. [Ed note: contrary to the photo on right of one of the items in her TOUCH line.] There’s so much drama that has always surrounded that team that it makes it hard for me to root for them.

Now that TOUCH has expanded to such a variety of sports, will you be taking in a little of everything?
I hope so. How blessed is my life?

Have you ever seen college basketball?
I’ve never been to a college basketball game, but I’ve been to lots of college football games. It is an amazing experience. College fans are, I think, the best fans in the world.

How has this whole TOUCH experience bonded you with other sports fans?
Take TOUCH completely out of the equation, and that’s one of the things I love about being a sports fan—it bonds you to everybody. You can get into a taxi and talk to the driver about the weather and it’s just a stranger talking about the weather. But if you get into a taxi in New York and talk to the driver about the Knicks or the Yankees, then you’re bonded on a level that wouldn’t naturally happen.

From the May/June 2008 issue