ESPN at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game

- ESPN to Televise “McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game” Live Feb. 15
- ESPN Radio and ESPN International to Broadcast 57th NBA All-Star Game
- Coverage on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, ESPN.com and More

February 13, 2008 -- ESPN will present live coverage of the 2008 McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Friday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. ET from the Ernest N. Memorial Convention Center in New Orleans. The game will feature actor Chris Tucker (Rush Hour 3), 2008 Grammy Award winners Common and Ne-Yo, hip-hop artist and New Orleans native Master P, former eight-time NFL All-Pro Deion Sanders, WNBA players Swin Cash and Ruth Riley, and more.

Actresses Gabrielle Union and Alyssa Milano will coach the respective teams, with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Bill Walton serving as general managers and Ric Bucher as commissioner. ESPN’s Mark Jones will provide play-by-play with analyst Jon Barry, while Stuart Scott will report from courtside. The game – available in high definition – will also be simulcast live via ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

Team New Orleans

Coach: actress Gabrielle Union
General Manager: Stephen A. Smith
Master P, hip-hop artist and New Orleans native
Taylor Hicks, American Idol winner (2006)
Seth Gilliam, The Wire
AJ Calloway, Extra
Zach Gilford, Friday Night Lights
Ruth Riley, WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars
Ne-Yo, 2008 Grammy winner
James Lafferty, One Tree Hill
Commissioner: Ric Bucher

Team Hornets

Coach: actress Alyssa Milano
General Managers: Bill Walton
Common, 2008 Grammy winner
Terry Crews, actor
James Kyson Lee, Heroes
Tony Potts, Access Hollywood
Deion Sanders, eight-time NFL Pro Bowler
Swin Cash, WNBA’s Detroit Shock
Josh Peck, actor
Chris Tucker, Rush Hour 3

* Game rosters subject to change.

Additional ESPN NBA All-Star Coverage:

ESPN Radio

For the 12th consecutive year, ESPN Radio will present complete, three-day coverage of NBA All-Star events – including all of the following events – culminating with the NBA All-Star Game Sunday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 15, 9 p.m. T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam – Seattle’s Kevin Durant, Atanta’s Al Horford and Milwaukee’s Yi Yianlian will lead the rookie class against the sophomore team featuring Portland’s Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge and Memphis’ Rudy Gay in the annual Rookie Challenge. Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay will describe the action with reporters Ric Bucher and Shelley Smith.

Saturday, Feb. 16, 6 p.m. Meet the All Stars – host Marc Kestecher and Jim Durham, Dr. Jack Ramsay and Will Perdue will interview players and other personalities attending NBA All-Star events. The show will also include the announcement of the fourth annual “Ramsays,” the mid-season awards named after the basketball Hall-of-Famer and ESPN Radio NBA analyst. Additionally, ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher will join the commentary team during the midseason roundtable discussion.

Saturday, Feb. 16, 8:30-11 p.m. NBA All-Star Saturday Night Presented by EA Sports – Jim Durham will describe the action with analyst Dr. Jack Ramsay and reporters Ric Bucher and Shelley Smith. Marc Kestecher will be the on-site studio host with analyst Will Perdue.

o Haier Shooting Stars: for the fourth consecutive year, four teams consisting of an NBA player, WNBA player and NBA legend will compete in a timed shooting event. Last year’s Detroit team of Chauncey Billups (Pistons), Swin Cash (Shock), and retired Pistons forward and current WNBA coach Bill Laimbeer, won the event.
o PlayStation Skills Challenge: four NBA stars will compete in an obstacle course challenge that tests shooting, passing and dribbling skills. Miami’s Dwyane Wade will return this year to defend his Skills title against an elite field: Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz).
o Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout: Toronto’s Jason Kapono will attempt to defend last year’s Three-Point Shootout triumph against some of the game’s elite long-range shooters – Cleveland’s Daniel Gibson, Detroit’s Richard Hamilton, Phoenix’s Steve Nash, New Orleans’ Peja Stojakovic and Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant.
o Sprite Slam Dunk: Minnesota’s Gerald Green will try and repeat as Slam Dunk winner, competing against returning competitor Dwight Howard and newcomers to the competition in Memphis’ Rudy Gay and Toronto rookie Jamario Moon.

Sunday, Feb. 17, 8 p.m. 57th NBA All-Star Game – the much-anticipated action among the NBA’s best will be described by Jim Durham (play-by-play), Dr. Jack Ramsay (analyst), Marc Kestecher (on-site studio host), Will Perdue (on-site studio analyst), and Ric Bucher and Shelley Smith (courtside reporters).

News and Information

SportsCenter

Mark Jones will host SportsCenter’s coverage from New Orleans, joined by NBA insider Stephen A. Smith and analyst Jon Barry, with Shelley Smith reporting. SportsCenter will present a live update Saturday morning, and provide interviews with Saturday night’s winners.

ESPN’s Rome is Burning (M-F, 4:30-5 p.m.), Around the Horn (M-F, 5-5:30 p.m.), Pardon the Interruption (M-F, 5:30-6 p.m.) and ESPN2’s First Take (M-F, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. with 12-2 p.m. re-air) will also provide NBA All-Star coverage.

ESPNEWS

The nation’s only 24-hour sports news television network will feature guest and player interviews from New Orleans.

NBA Fastbreak

Mark Jones will host ESPN’s NBA Fastbreak episodes late Saturday at 12:40 a.m. (9:40 p.m. PT) and late Sunday at 12:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. PT) with analysts Jon Barry and Stephen A. Smith.

NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad

NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad will offer two NBA All-Star Specials on ABC – Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 17, at 12:30 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT). The shows will examine the revival of New Orleans and the rise of the Hornets, including special access with Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler and head coach Byron Scott, along with additional behind-the-scenes footage.

ESPN.com

ESPN.com will offer fans complete online coverage of NBA All-Star events, including:

* John Hollinger’s All-Star Scorecard with grades and comments for all player performances in all NBA All-Star competitions.
* Henry Abbott: TrueHoop blogs from the NBA Day of Service, Rookie-Sophomore Game, NBA All-Star Saturday Night, and the NBA All-Star Game.
* Chris Sheridan reporting on NBA All-Star news (including Commissioner Stern’s Saturday news conference) and contests, including the NBA All-Star Game.
* J.A. Adande covering the state of the league from the player’s perspective during the All-Star break.
* Scouts Inc. analyst David Thorpe offering a scouting report for the Rookie-Sophomore game.
* Live chats with ESPN.com NBA analysts and reporters during the NBA All-Star Game.

ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic will celebrate the NBA All-Star break with the following programming Sunday, Feb. 17, beginning at 12 p.m.:

12 p.m. – 1984 All-Star Game
Isiah Thomas scores 21 points while dishing out 15 assists to guide the East to a 154-145 win.

2 p.m. – 1993 NBA All-Star Game
Utah teammates Karl Malone and John Stockton lead the West team to an exciting 135-132 overtime victory.

4 p.m. – 1998 NBA All-Star Game
Michael Jordan earns his third All-Star MVP award in the East’s 135-114 win.

6 p.m. – 2003 NBA All-Star Game
Michael Jordan plays in his final All-Star Game, but the West prevails 155-145.

ESPN International

ESPN International will televise the NBA All-Star Game, Rookie Challenge and NBA All-Star Saturday to 46 countries including viewers in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Africa.

Source: ESPN

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