SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Kevin Hart will be on the court at the NBA All-Star Game.
The comedian and actor will be the master of ceremonies for the All-Star Game, a mini-tournament that takes place Sunday in San Francisco.
Hart will be “providing commentary from the court as the game unfolds,” the league said Tuesday.
The NBA and Hart have been linked many times before; he hosted an alternate broadcast of the inaugural In-Season Tournament championship game in 2023, has worked with stars like LeBron James and Draymond Green on various projects, is a four-time MVP of the celebrity game at All-Star weekend and routinely has courtside seats for games around the league.
The All-Star Game starts Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be aired on TNT, TBS, truTV and MAX.
Bay Area native and Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Raphael Saadiq will welcome fans and introduce players at the All-Star Game – and that’s just one element of how the NBA is using All-Star weekend to celebrate the Bay’s musical legacy, with the full lineup revealed on Tuesday.
-DJ Cassidy will lead a Bay Area-themed “Pass The Mic Live!” that will be featuring E-40, multiplatinum hip-hop artists Too $hort and Saweetie, and multiplatinum vocal group En Vogue during Sunday’s game.
-Saadiq is being joined by fellow Oakland, California native Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks for a short film where they explain how the Bay Area continues to influence their careers and lives.
-At All-Star Saturday, Vallejo, California native H.E.R. will be joined by Andre Iguodala – a four-time NBA champion with Golden State and now the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association – to welcome fans. Also during the Saturday night event, Def Jam artist LiAngelo Ball, the brother of NBA players Lonzo Ball and LaMelo Ball, will perform in his live televised debut.
-LaRussell, another Bay Area rapper, will introduce the Rising Stars players before their event on Friday night.
-The U.S. national anthem before Sunday’s All-Star Game will be a tribute to the Los Angeles area after the devastating wildfires and led by Los Angeles firefighter and paramedic Dennis R. Rodriguez. The Canadian national anthem will be performed by Grammy winner Alessia Cara.
-Grammy winner and Morehouse College graduate PJ Morton will perform the U.S. national anthem Saturday before the NBA HBCU Classic college game between Morehouse and Tuskegee. Morton will join Oakland native Goapele to perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the song widely regarded as the Black national anthem.
