– Carmelo Anthony and Spike Lee to Coach Alongside ESPN Radio’sMike Golic and Mike Greenberg –
– Pop-Reggae Band MAGIC! to Perform During Halftime at Madison Square Garden –
NEW YORK,Feb. 5, 2015 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that three-time MVP and comedic superstar Kevin Hart will take the court at Madison Square Garden, The World’s Most Famous Arena, for the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game 2015 on Friday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. ET airing live on ESPN. Hart will be joined by film star Ansel Elgort; Anthony Anderson (ABC’s “blackish”); Common (“Selma”); Little League phenom Mo’ne Davis; Arcade Fire’s Win Butler; actor Chadwick Boseman (“42”); “America’s Got Talent” host Nick Cannon; former NBA All-Star and New York Knicks Assistant General Manager Allan Houston; Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin; gold medal-winning U.S. Paralympic athlete Blake Leeper; actor Michael Rapaport; Memphis Grizzlies owner Robert Pera; NBA TV’s “NBA Inside Stuff presented by Samsung Galaxy” co-host Kristen Ledlow; Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan; and WNBA stars Shoni Schimmel of the Atlanta Dream, Skylar Diggins of the Tulsa Shock and Tina Charles of the New York Liberty. This marks the first time that the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game will be held in an NBA arena.
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and the team’s No. 1 fan, Spike Lee, will coach this year’s game alongside ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” hosts Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg. NBA Cares Ambassador Isaiah Austin, founder of The Isaiah Austin Foundation which provides support for the awareness and research of Marfan syndrome, will make his All-Star debut as assistant coach.
Following her Broadway debut as Rodgers + Hammerstein's “Cinderella,” singer and actress Keke Palmer will take center court to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Canadian reggae fusion band MAGIC! will perform their multiplatinum-selling hit “Rude” during halftime.
For the 11th consecutive year, ESPN will televise the game beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Fans can also view the game on WatchESPN, available on your computer, smart phone, tablet, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Apple TV and Roku. The game rosters are subject to change without notice. Visit NBA.com/allstar2015 for more information.
About the Artists:
MAGIC! (RCA)Toronto-born and Los Angeles-based quartet MAGIC! consists of Nasri (lead singer), Mark Pelli (guitar), Ben Spivak (bass) and Alex Tanas (drums). Their debut album, “Don’t Kill The Magic,” debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200 and No. 2 on the Digital Album Chart. The album produced the double-platinum-selling single, “Rude,” which was No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks, nominated for Single of The Year at the American Music Awards, was the most Shazamed song of the summer in the U.S., ranked No. 7 on Spotify’s Global Songs for 2014, named the 10th best-selling track on iTunes for 2014 and has sold over 5 million singles worldwide. The music video for “Rude” has over 370 million views. MAGIC! is set to hit the road with Maroon 5 this year in support of “Don’t Kill The Magic.” Their follow up single, “Let Your Hair Down,” is currently rising up the charts and the music video has over 10 million views.
Keke Palmer (Atlantic, Interscope)At the age of 21, Keke Palmer has already established herself as one of the fastest rising young stars of her generation. Her talents span film, television, and music alike. Keke recently signed to play a major role in Ryan Murphy’s new comedy-horror anthology series “Scream Queens.” Straight off her history-making stint on Broadway as the first black and youngest actress to play the iconic fairytale character Cinderella in the Rogers & Hammerstein award winning production, “Cinderella,” Keke is never one to rest on her laurels. After she shoots “Scream Queens,” Keke will go into production on her history-making talk show “Just Keke,” which is being retooled and reshot to go into syndication in 2016 by way of Telepictures/Warner Bros. Keke will also be releasing new music in 2015. She can next be seen in lead roles in the indie films “Brotherly Love” produced by Queen Latifah (April 2015) and “Imperial Dreams” opposite John Boyega and directed by Malik Vitthal.
About SprintSprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served nearly 56 million connections as of December 31, 2014 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America for the past four years. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
About NBA All-Star 2015NBA All-Star 2015 in New York City will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game. The 64th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place Sunday, Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden, will reach fans in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages. TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 13th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports' 30th year of All-Star coverage, as well as the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 13 and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 14, which will both take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Other events at Barclays Center include the NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire and the NBA Development League Dream Factory presented by Boost Mobile on Sunday, Feb. 15, airing on NBA TV. Madison Square Garden will host Friday night’s ESPN-televised Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.