The NBA All-Star weekend is set to start soon and fans of the basketball community are extremely excited for the event. For the first time, the star-studded occasion will not be held in the United States as Toronto, Canada plays host to the affair. To cover the needs of the NBA fans, the organization promises a worldwide coverage of the All-Star weekend.
The NBA All-Star 2016 weekend will cater to fans from 215 countries and territories. Fans can view the event in 49 languages via mobile phones, tablets and computers as well as televisions. The event will be covered by 336 international media members from 40 countries who will go to Toronto to witness the games.
Meanwhile, live on-site commentaries will be provided by international television and radio networks from different nations including the Philippines, China, Japan, France and Dominican Republic. Apart from these, other countries will be broadcasting the NBA All-Star weekend remotely for the first time. These include Belgium, Latvia, Tanzania, Mongolia, Uruguay, Azerbaijan and Mozambique.
The 2016 NBA All-Star games will feature the Celebrity Game at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. This is scheduled on Friday (February 12) at 7:00 pm ET. Two teams will face off, namely, Team Canada and Team USA.
For Team Canada, the coaches will be Steve Nash, Drake and Jose Bautista. The players will include Eugenie Bouchard, Win Butler, Drew & Jonathan Scott and Kris Wu. Stephan James, Tammy Sutton-Brown and Rick Fox will also be part of the group. Rounding up the group are Tom Cavanagh, Milos Raonic and Tracy McGrady.
As for Team USA, San Antonio Spurs coach Becky Hammon and Kevin Hart will serve as coaches. Muggsy Bogues and Marc Lasry will be part of the group. Jason Sudeikis, Elena Delle Donne, Anthony Anderson and Chauncey Billups comprise Team USA as well. To complete the group, Nick Cannon, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., Terrence Jenkins and Joel David Moore are also going to compete.
On the same day, the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge will be held at 9:00 pm ET at the Air Canada Center. This will also have two groups: US Team and the World Team.
The US Team boasts of Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Zach LaVine, Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker and Elfrid Payton. D'Angelo Russell, Marcus Smart and Karl-Anthony Towns will also be playing for the group. Meanwhile, Devin Booker is signed to replace Nerlens Noel who was injured earlier this NBA season.
For the World Team, Kristaps Porzingis is expected to make waves. With the New York Knicks star are Bojan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela, Mario Hezonja and Nikola Jokic. Trey Lyles comes in to replace an injured Nikola Mirotic along with Andrew Wiggins, Dwight Powell, Raul Neto and Emmanuel Mudiay.
