NBA All-Star Weekend: Get Into It

All Star Weekend Gets Underway; Memphis Grizzlies prep to rep “Grind City”

Friday 2:00 pm – Chicago, Illinois 

The NBA has taken over the Windy City on this Valentine’s and President’s Day weekend. The 69th edition of one of the league’s signature events is here. Yes, it’s cold. Freezing actually. But the action in and around this spectacular weekend is hot!

The Jordan Brand welcomed guests to Chicago Thursday evening (February 13) with a soft opening of its All-Star Weekend hub, HUB23, to preview the entire Chicago Collaborators Collection. BET toured the brand space in the General Richard L. Jones Armory that highlighted Jumpman’s history in Chicago and the Brand’s UNITE through basketball campaign. 

The “hypebeasts” were out in full force decked out in all their Jumpman swag. 

A young woman who identified herself as “Michelle” told BET, “All-Star weekend is the best. I try and attend every year and I’m glad I was able to get into this Jordan event. There are some kicks I got my eyes on.”

The attendees were also able to purchase the exclusive drops, and it didn’t matter how long the lines were, people were hyped at the opportunity to score anything they could. 

Moving to the court…

The NBA Rising Stars Challenge is set for tonight at The United Center (home of the Chicago Bulls). Team World, led by Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic will take on Team USA, led by Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young. The two second year pros will also be participating in their first All-Star game on Sunday (February 16), continuing the connection that started when they were traded for each other on draft night in 2019. 

But Luka and Trae aren’t the only big names taking part in the Rising Stars Challenge. 

Rookies Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Jaren Jackson Jr., RJ Barrett are just a few of the other names rocking the court. 

Morant, Jackson, and Brandon Clarke are all Memphis Grizzlies teammates, and want to represent “Grind City” to everyone who doesn’t know what’s been going down.

“Our team has a bunch of winners,” said Clarke. “Just a bunch of guys that really want to win and play hard. We have really great chemistry, and Ja is a big part of that.”

When Jackson, took to the podium, his natural gregariousness came out. Calling his teammate Morant playfully, who was conducting his media session on the neighboring podium. 

“There are so many great duos. You think of Kobe and Shaq which is something totally different. Our favorite players are KD (Kevin Durant) and Russell Westbrook,” said Jackson, when asked about other NBA duos he and Morant admire. “Our team chemistry is good, we’re all together, we care about playing defense. At the end of the day we are competitive and have a lot of confidence. We just go out there and do what we gotta do.”

The young Grizzlies are one of the many great stories in and around All-Star weekend. 

Stay tuned…

JHud Set To Perform Kobe Bryant Tribute At All-Star Game

Jennifer Hudson is set to perform a special tribute at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 16  to honor the late Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the seven others who were killed in the tragic helicopter crash last month. 

The National Basketball Association announced Thursday that the Grammy-winning singer will perform prior to player introductions at the 69th annual game, which will be held in Chicago. 

Along with Hudson, additional Chicago natives will be making special appearances. Ten-time Grammy winner Chaka Khan will sing the national anthem after an opening welcome given by Common who will talk about what the sport of basketball has meant to the city. 

At half time, Chance the Rapper will perform a medley of chart-topping hits alongside Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled and Quavo. 

On Saturday, February 15, Queen Latifah will be joined by Chicago youth for a special performance of Stevie Wonder’s classic song “Love’s in Need of Love Today.”

While there are no details on Hudson’s special tribute to Bryant, players participating in the game will honor Kobe and Gianna by wearing their respective jersey numbers. Team LeBron James will wear Gianna’s No. 2 and Team Giannis Antetokounmpo will wear Kobe’s No. 24. Both teams will also wear a patch on their jersey displaying nine stars, representing those that lost their lives in the crash, CNBC reports.

The 69th NBA All-Star Game will take place Sunday at Chicago’s United Center at 8 p.m.—Vanessa Etienne