NBA All-Star Celebrity Game – 7:00pm ET – ESPN
The next NBA regular season games will take place next Thursday, so if you need your basketball fix before then, you can turn to the collegiate game, or whatever the heck the Celebrity Game is. Team Shannon Sharpe is going up against Team Stephen A Smith, with 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and A’ja Wilson as assistants, which I dig. The actual rosters, I’m less clear what is going on.
I did enjoy playing the “How washed am I?” game.
How old are you challenge:
*coaches don’t count.*
Know 18-20 of the names = 16 or under
Know 14-17 of the names = 25 or under
Know 10-13 of the names =30 or under
Know 9 or fewer names = WASHED https://t.co/q2EL5iLVV5— Josh Eberley (@JoshEberley) February 8, 2024
I scored a 6. I am very washed. I swear some of these names seem AI-generated.
Rising Stars – 9:00pm ET – TNT
Ah, here we go, actual NBA players. Look at how fun these rosters are!
We have each of the top three picks from both the 2022 and 2023 NBA Drafts. Wemby is must-see TV no matter what he’s doing on a basketball court. Paolo Banchero is an actual All-Star and also playing in this event. Plus, Mac McClung is around to hoist threes do some dope dunks. What more could you want?
For the third straight year, the Rising Stars event will be a mini-tournament with two semifinal games, followed by a final. The semifinal games are played to a target score of 40 and the final goes to 25. So no dragging things out with scores in the 150s and you can bet if that target score is approaching, the intensity will dial up a bit. As far as exhibition proceedings go, this is high on my list.
Follow along with Friday night’s All-Star weekend festivities in the comments.