NBA All-Star Weekend 2020: Dates, TV Schedule, Event Info and Preview

NBA All-Star Weekend is much more than just one game featuring many of the league's top stars.

There's a whole weekend of festivities on the way, which begins Friday at the United Center in Chicago. That night, the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and NBA Rising Stars will take place to get the All-Star celebration underway.

Saturday night will feature the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest, while the All-Star Game will wrap things up on Sunday night.

Here's a look at the full schedule for the weekend, along with a breakdown of the events.

2020 NBA All-Star Weekend

Friday, Feb. 14

Hall of Fame announcement, 5 p.m. ET on NBA TV

NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

NBA Rising Stars Game, 9 p.m. ET on TNT

Saturday, Feb. 15

State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, 8 p.m. ET on TNT

Sunday, Feb. 16

69th NBA All-Star Game, 8 p.m. ET on TNT (coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET)

Celebrity Game

Both teams in this year's All-Star Celebrity Game will be coached by an ESPN analyst and captained by a Chicago-born rapper. And while there will be "home" and "away" squads, both teams will have Chicago representation.

The home team will be coached by Michael Wilbon, a Chicago native, and captained by Common. The away squad will be led by coach Stephen A. Smith and captain Chance the Rapper. The away team also has Chance the Rapper's brother, Taylor Bennett, who is also a Chicago-born rapper.

This year's contest also features the last two winners of the game's MVP award. Migos' Quavo, who won the MVP in 2018, is playing for the away team, while comedian Famous Los is on the home squad after winning last year's award.

Full rosters for this year's celebrity game can be found on NBA.com.

NBA Rising Stars Game

This is the annual game that sees the top rookies and sophomores in the league facing off. Since 2015, it has featured a World vs. USA format and that will be the case again this year.

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Hawks guard Trae Young are both second-year players who will be playing in this game and as starters in Sunday night's All-Star Game.

Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson will also participate in the contest, despite playing in only eight games in his NBA career so far. However, he was selected as an injury replacement for Bulls forward Wendell Carter Jr., and it should be exciting to see the electrifying former Duke star in action against other young players.

Full rosters for this game can be found on NBA.com.

All-Star Saturday Night

One of the most exciting parts of the All-Star Weekend festivities comes Saturday night when the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest take place.

The biggest storyline heading into this year's slate of events is the return of Dwight Howard to the dunk contest. He participated three straight years from 2007-09, which included a win in 2008. That was the year he dazzled the judges and viewers with his Superman-themed slam.

But this will be the first time Howard is competing in the dunk contest since that three-year stretch. After an 11-year hiatus, can he defeat a trio of talented dunkers? He'll be facing Pat Connaughton of the Bucks, Aaron Gordon of the Magic and Derrick Jones Jr. of the Heat.

The full list of participants for each of these events can be found on NBA.com.

All-Star Game

For the second straight year, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the captains for the All-Star Game.

In 2018, the NBA opted to change the traditional Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format to one that features a playground-style draft. The two leading vote-getters for each conference are the captains, who then get to select their respective team's starters and reserves from the pool of players who earn All-Star nods.

James has been a captain all three years since this format was implemented, and he led his team to victory each of the first two. So, he'll be looking to keep up his recent All-Star success while also trying to earn the game's MVP Award for the fourth time. The only two players to earn the honor four times are Bob Pettit and Kobe Bryant.

The full All-Star Game rosters can be found on NBA.com.