NBA All-Star Friday GameThread

NBA All-Star Weekend has started. Here’s what’s on tap.

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

TV: ESPN

Pop star celebrities, former NBA players, and WNBA players take part in a game of glorified pick-up. The game is set up as a Team Clippers vs. Team Lakers format.

Team Clippers - This should be the team you’re rooting for. Former Mystics center Stefanie Dolson is on the team alongside former Wizards legend Paul Pierce. They’ll also have former NBA player Jason Williams and golf star Bubba Watson on their squad.

The musician on the team is Common. His most recent hit was “Glory” with John Legend.

But my favorite Common song is “The Light” from the year 2000.

Team Lakers - The opponent’s best players would be Candace Parker of the Sparks and former NBA players Tracy McGrady and Nate Robinson. Justin Bieber is the most notable musical artist to us here in the United States and the western world.

To those in Eastern Asia, there’s another singer who has celebrity status. Kris Wu, a Chinese Canadian singer is also on Team Lakers. Wu was on EXO, a Korean boy band that also has members of Chinese descent. Here is one of EXO’s biggest earlier hits, “Overdose” which is in Korean:

If you don’t understand anything EXO sang, no worries. Wu went solo from EXO in 2014. And here’s an English song of his, “Deserve” with Travis Scott.

NBA Rising Stars Game, 9 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

The NBA’s rookies and sophomores play in a Team USA vs. World format in a game that features many of the league’s future stars.

No Wizards are on this team, so I look forward to seeing how the 76ers trio of Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, and Ben Simmons fit in with Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen on Team World. They’ll face off against a Team USA that will be without Lonzo Ball, but the team will still have a “hometown flavor” with Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma.