NBA Celebrity All-Star Game 2015: Rosters, TV Info and MVP Pick
If you are a basketball fan who always thought the games could use more contributions from actors, comedians and musicians, then the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game is meant for you.
An array of household names from films, television, music and more will take the court on Friday as part of the weekend-long festivities, and fans are sure to see some entertaining style of play (even if it isn’t the prettiest basketball).
Given that the game is in Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and diehard Knicks supporter (and director) Spike Lee will coach one team. The other will be led by ESPN Radio’s Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg of Mike & Mike fame.
Here is a look at the important information for the event, as well as an MVP prediction.
2015 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game
Date: Friday, Feb. 13
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
TV: ESPN
Rosters
NBA.com released a list of the celebrities who will participate in the game. However, there was no indication regarding which players will play on which team as of Thursday night at 11 p.m. ET. Any updates could likely be found on that NBA.com link.
| Kevin Hart | Comedian and actor |
| Ansel Elgort | Actor |
| Anthony Anderson | Actor |
| Common | Musician and actor |
| Mo'ne Davis | Little League World Series star |
| Win Butler | Arcade Fire member |
| Chadwick Boseman | Actor |
| Nick Cannon | America's Got Talent host |
| Allan Houston | Former New York Knicks All-Star |
| Chris Mullin | Basketball Hall of Famer |
| Blake Leeper | Paralympic gold medalist |
| Michael Rapaport | Actor |
| Robert Pera | Memphis Grizzlies owner |
| Kristen Ledlow | NBA TV host |
| Abhishek Bachchan | Bollywood star |
| Shoni Schimmel | Atlanta Dream player (WNBA) |
| Skylar Diggins | Tulsa Shock player (WNBA) |
| Tina Charles | New York Liberty player (WNBA) |
MVP Prediction
Let’s get this straight right out of the gates—the MVP of the Celebrity All-Star Game is rarely ever the best basketball player on the floor. After all, United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan dominated the competition in last year’s game and finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Those are good enough numbers to land in the actual All-Star Game if an NBA player posted them.
However, comedian and actor Kevin Hart took home the MVP instead because of the fan voting system and his overall popularity.
Hart is an incredibly popular celebrity who has used this game in the past to entertain the fans with amusing plays and commentary. It is hard not to get caught up in his performance during these Celebrity All-Star Games, which has naturally led to MVP votes.
In fact, it has led to enough MVP votes to take home the trophy the past three years, as NBA All-Star pointed out:
Before Hart’s streak, Justin Bieber won the MVP award, which speaks for itself in terms of fan voting and popularity.
It may seem expected that Hart will win his fourth consecutive trophy, but that will not be the case. Instead, Little League World Series sensation Mo’ne Davis will take home the MVP award after Friday’s contest.
Interestingly, Lee told ABC News Radio that he has a game plan centered around Davis, via Bruce Glikas of MyCentralOregon.com:
"Mo’ne Davis, she’s gonna run the point on the team and bring our team to victory. And I’m going to do my best to make sure she has more minutes than anybody. She’s going to be the crowd favorite and people are going to be amazed by her skills.
She’s a fantastic baseball player, can throw [the ball] seventy miles per hour, she’s ten times better [as a] basketball player. So Mo’ne is going to do her thing.
"
Few athletes in all of sports were more popular than Davis last summer when she led the Taney Dragons to the Little League World Series with dominant pitching performances and contagious enthusiasm. She pitched a shutout along the way and even landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated for her efforts.
Incredibly, her games had higher television ratings than actual MLB games that were going on at the same time, which is a testament to her overall popularity across the country.
Again, popularity is more important than anything else in terms of the MVP race in this game, and Davis has plenty of it. In fact, she is popular among other athletes as well as the fans, as SportsCenter noted:
It is clear from Lee’s quote that he plans to get the youngest player the ball early and often (it also suggests Davis will be on his team), so she will be on the forefront of fans’ minds throughout the game.
That, along with her overall popularity that is already in place, will be enough to win her the MVP trophy.
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