The National Basketball Association and ESPN have announced the participants for the annual NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, with Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry tabbed to participate for a second straight year. This year’s game will tip off at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 17, as part of NBA All-Star Weekend. The game will air live on ESPN from Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Last year, Lasry tallied eight points and six rebounds but his U.S. Team, led by actor and comedian Kevin Hart, fell to recording artist Drake and Team Canada, 74-64.
This year’s game features ESPN’s Michael Smith and Jemele Hill, co-hosts of the new 6 p.m. SportsCenter show SC6 on ESPN, as guest coaches for the West and East teams, respectively. Smith will be joined on the West bench by Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and television personality Rocsi Diaz, while Hill will be assisted by Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and recording artist Fat Joe.
Lasry, who played collegiate basketball at Clark University, will compete on Hill’s East Team, where he will be joined by Brandon Armstrong (former NBA player and social media star), Win Butler (musician), Nick Cannon (actor, recording artist), Rachel DeMita (NBA2K TV personality), Ansel Elgort (actor, recording artist), Caleb McLaughlin (actor), Peter Rosenberg (media personality), Oscar Schmidt (basketball legend), Lindsay Whalen (WNBA player), Jason Williams (NBA legend) and Kris Wu (recording artist).
The West team features Miles Brown (actor), Tom Cavanagh (actor), Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks owner), Baron Davis (NBA legend), Andy Grammer (recording artist), Jiang Jinfu (actor, model), Anthony Mackie (actor), Romeo Miller (actor, recording artist), Hasan Minhaj (actor, comedian), Master P (actor, recording artist), Candace Parker (WNBA player) and Aaron Sanchez (celebrity chef).
For the 13th consecutive year, ESPN will televise the game beginning at 6 p.m. CT. The telecast will also be available to stream on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
About NBA All-Star 2016
NBA All-Star 2017 in New Orleans will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game. The 66th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center, will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 15th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 32nd year of NBA All-Star coverage. Smoothie King Center will also host the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 17 and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 18. The NBA All-Star Practice, NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.