The 72nd annual NBA All-Star Game will take place this weekend (February 19) in Salt Lake City, Utah. The NBA announced the performers that will grace different stages throughout the weekend. Click inside to find out the specifics.
The NBA has been dedicated to going global for quite some time now. The league is showing that they’re committed to broadening their audience with the announcement of the halftime performers for this year’s game. Today (February 15), it was announced that the Afrobeats themed performance will be anchored by Grammy Award-winners Burna Boy and Tems, along with rising star Rema. Last year, DJ Khaled brought out the likes of Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Migos, Lil Baby and Gunna for the halftime show.
Before the three Nigerian stars hit the stage, Post Malone will start things off. The ‘White Iverson’ and ‘Congratulations’ artist will start the show off with a medley of his hits. Malone moved to Utah in 2019 to stay out of the spotlight of Hollywood. Vin Diesel, the star of The Fast & The Furious franchise, will introduce the All-Stars. Jewel and Jully Black will perform the United States and Canadian national anthems. On top of performing ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ (the Black National anthem) on Sunday, The Bonner Family will perform the National Anthem prior to the Rising Stars Challenge which takes place on Friday.
Another event that will take place on Friday is the Ruffles Celebrity Game. A plethora of artists including 21 Savage, Janelle Monae and Cordae will participate in the game. They join other artists such as J. Cole, Jack Harlow, Common and Quavo as musicians who have previously played in the game. The Migos star won the game’s MVP in 2019 (he scored 19 points).
Through out the weekend, the NBA will also celebrate LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. You can check out a full list of the All-Star Weekend festivities here. Shout out to Burna Boy, Tems and all of the performers announced for this year’s events. Also, shout out to the NBA for attempting to take the game global and shine a light on these deserving artists.