
NBA Celebrity All-Star Game 2017: Rosters, TV Info and MVP Pick
The NBA Celebrity All-Star Game will take place on Friday, February 17 at 7 p.m. in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
ESPN will televise the contest, and fans can also watch the game on WatchESPN.
Comedian and four-time Celebrity Game MVP Kevin Hart won't be making an appearance, but the game is sure to entertain, especially considering the rosters this year are stacked.
Here's a look at both rosters and the top three MVP candidates, with a prediction for the MVP winner at the end.
West Coaches
| Coach | Occupation |
| Michael Smith | ESPN Journalist (SportsCenter) |
| Draymond Green | NBA Player (Golden State Warriors) |
| Rocsi Diaz | TV Personality (best known for hosting 106 & Park) |
West Roster
| Player | Occupation |
| Miles Brown | Actor (best known for Black-ish) |
| Tom Cavanagh | Actor (best known for Ed, The Flash) |
| Mark Cuban | Dallas Mavericks owner, entrepreneur, Shark Tank shark |
| Baron Davis | Former NBA player (Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors among others) |
| Andy Grammer | Recording artist (best known for "Honey, I'm Good") |
| Jiang Jinfu | Actor and model (best known for Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar Of Sky) |
| Anthony Mackie | Actor (best known for The Hurt Locker and Captain America: Civil War) |
| Romeo Miller | Actor, recording artist (best known for No. 1 single "My Baby" when he was known as Lil' Romeo, and he has also appeared in numerous TV shows and movies) |
| Hasan Minhaj | Actor, comedian (best known for his role as a correspondent on The Daily Show) |
| Master P | Actor, recording artist, rap mogul, entrepreneur (best known for starting No Limit Records and two albums produced in late 1990s—Ghetto D and MP da Last Don—that went three-time and four-time platinum) |
| Candace Parker | Current WNBA player (Los Angeles Sparks) |
| Aaron Sanchez | Celebrity chef (best known for being a judge on Chopped) |
East Coaches
| Coach | Occupation |
| Jemele Hill | ESPN journalist (SportsCenter) |
| Kyle Lowry | NBA player (Toronto Raptors) |
| Fat Joe | Recording artist (best known for his No. 1 single "Lean Back") |
East Roster
| Player | Occupation |
| Brandon Armstrong | Former professional basketball player (best known for impersonations of NBA players on YouTube) |
| Win Butler | Recording artist (lead singer, Arcade Fire) |
| Nick Cannon | Actor, recording artist (best known as former host for America's Got Talent among other shows) |
| Rachel DeMita | Host, NBA2KTV |
| Ansel Elgort | Actor, recording artist (best known for the movie The Fault in Our Stars) |
| Marc Lasry | Milwaukee Bucks owner, hedge fund manager |
| Caleb McLaughlin | Actor (best known for Stranger Things) |
| Peter Rosenberg | Radio DJ, co-host, TV show host (best known for Ebro in the Morning and The Michael Kay Show) |
| Oscar Schmidt | Former professional basketball player who had a 30-year career in Brazil and Europe. Best known for his role on the Brazilian national team, playing in five Olympic Games. |
| Lindsey Whalen | Current WNBA player (Minnesota Lynx) |
| Jason Williams | Former NBA player (best known for time on Sacramento Kings when he rose to fame for his ball-handling skills) |
| Kris Wu | Actor, recording artist, model (best known for role in xXx: Return of Xander Cage) |
Top Three MVP Candidates
A note before diving into the candidates: It's hard to imagine a current or former professional basketball player winning this award, because it is pretty clear that the pros don't play at their full capacity.
If Baron Davis, Jason Williams, Candace Parker, Lindsey Whalen, Brandon Armstrong and Oscar Schmidt wanted to, they could dominate this game all night.
Obviously, that's not what the Celebrity Game is about, so they will probably hold back a bit.
In fact, no basketball player has ever won the MVP. It's always been given to an athlete from another sport or a celebrity.
Therefore, here's a list of the top three celebrities who could win the MVP.
2b and 2a. Master P and Romeo Miller
Master P and his son Romeo go together here. If the West wins this game (and on paper, it looks pretty tough for them to do given the strong height advantage the East has with the 6'4" Win Butler and 6'8" Oscar Schmidt), it will be because father and son use their natural chemistry and dominate.
Thomas Golianopoulos of Complex wrote a story on Master P's basketball career, which included tryouts with some NBA teams and most notably a stint playing some preseason games with the Toronto Raptors in 1999.
Granted, it's 18 years later, and Master P is now 49 years old, but he's bound to have something left in the tank one time for a lower-key celebrity game.
Miller played high school basketball and averaged 13.9 points and 5.6 assists per game for Beverly Hills High School in his junior year. His senior year was limited due to injury, but he still played a bit in college at USC.
There's no doubt that Miller is one of the more talented celebrities in this game (if not the most talented). Together with his father, they can take over the contest, if not for a dominating East presence down low that will likely dictate how this game rolls.
1. Win Butler
The lead singer of Arcade Fire is the clear MVP frontrunner. He won the award last year by posting 15 points, 14 rebounds (including seven offensive) and three steals in just 22 minutes, helping Canada beat the USA, 74-63.
Butler is 6'4", and no one on the West team is taller than him. That will help him control the glass all night as he did last year and also drop in some putback layups on the offensive side.
If the East team plays Butler and the 6'8" Oscar Schmidt at the same time, then the West side is in a ton of trouble.
Look for Butler to go back-to-back and win his second straight MVP trophy.





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