NBA Crossover<\/a> \u2014 a chance for fans to experience the sport through pop culture, fashion, technology, music and entertainment.<\/p>\n\u201cEvery year All-Star grows in different shapes and forms,\u201d Flatow said. \u201cWhat we used to call a weekend is now an entire week. In fact, the Clippers have done an incredible job making All-Star an entire season long celebration of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ludacris](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770818469_591_.jpeg\")
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Ludacris, performing at One Musicfest at Piedmont Park in Atlanta in October, will be the featured artist at NBA Crossover on Friday at the Convention Center.<\/p>\n
(Paul R. Giunta \/ invision \/ via Associated Press)<\/p>\n
In November, the organization launched a three-on-three tournament, 75 days ahead of what will be the 75th game. It initiated \u201cHomecourt Hoops,\u201d a program which has given away 75 outdoor hoops every day. At the Rising Stars mini-tournament Friday, Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer and NBA commissioner Adam Silver will give out the final set of hoops to deserving families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at this as a global celebration of the game and given the unique geography of this city it\u2019s important to cover as much of the greater Los Angeles area as possible,\u201d Flatow said. \u201cYou\u2019ll see that with our key venues. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we\u2019re showcasing Intuit Dome and also the Kia Forum where we\u2019ve held two All-Star Games in the past and this coming weekend we\u2019re going to hold a series of events there. On Friday night we have the celebrity game, which has always been a mainstay of our All-Star festivities, but one of the things we didn\u2019t have when we were here eight years ago is the NBA HBCU Classic. This will be the fifth time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The All-Star Celebrity Game tips off at 4 p.m. and aims to please as Mookie Betts from the World Series champion Dodgers will coach one of the teams and actor\/comedian Anthony Anderson will coach the other. Betts\u2019 squad includes rapper GloRilla, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and retired Brazilian soccer star Cafu while Anderson\u2019s roster features Canadian actor Simu Liu, Chargers wideout Keenan Allen and former NBA player Jason \u201cWhite Chocolate\u201d Williams. At halftime the K-pop group Cortis will perform.<\/p>\n
The Celebrity Game will be followed by the HBCU Classic between Coastal Athletic Assn. rivals North Carolina A&T and Hampton.<\/p>\n
\u201cNBA Crossover is offering even more ways for fans to get in on the action,\u201d said Flatow, who vividly recalls her first All-Star Game as an NBA employee in Las Vegas in 2007. \u201cThe Convention Center will be transformed into a fan destination with live performers, customized experiences, retail offerings, NBA partner activations, player [and] talent appearances, panel discussions, memorabilia displays and more. There will be concerts Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This is about putting Los Angeles and our game on the global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flatow cited 27 different marketing partners and brands teaming up with the NBA. The All-Star Game on Sunday will be broadcast in 200 countries and territories. She also lauded the biggest merchandise village in the history of the event and ticket data confirms there will be fans from all 50 states and from 44 countries.<\/p>\n
The Clippers are hosting with their All-Star City of Stars Alliance the DJ Cassidy Pass the Mic Live! event Saturday night at Kia Forum \u2014 an ensemble of hip-hop and R&B royalty that will feature Ashanti, Busta Rhymes, Ja Rule, Lil Kim and others.<\/p>\n
Three concerts will highlight the Crossover extravaganza \u2014 the hip-hop band Cortis on Thursday, rapper Ludacris on Friday and the country, Americana and hip-hop singer Shaboozey on Saturday. A beats & brunch event with DJ Pauly D will follow on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were we here in 2018, I don\u2019t know if the phenomenon of influencers even existed yet but certainly now in 2026 creators are such a big part of pop culture so we\u2019ve got some amazing creators,\u201d Flatow said. \u201cState Farm is doing a three-point contest with comedian Druski and we\u2019ve added a Creator Court along with what we\u2019ll call Hardcourt Central, a festival-like area where they\u2019ll be food trucks, musical performances and more. There\u2019ll be lots of opportunities to shoot hoops and meet your favorite players and legends like Oscar Robertson, Dr. J, Robert Horry and Mitch Richmond.\u201d<\/p>\n
Late Sunday morning, 24 of the NBA G League\u2019s most dynamic players, 10 of whom were selected by fan vote, will show off their skills in the Next Up Game, part of the Crossover spectacle at the Convention Center. Seats will be on a first-come, first-served basis.\u202f<\/p>\n
\u201cThe G League wasn\u2019t part of the All-Star experience last time we were here in 2018,\u201d Flatow said. \u201cWe created a G League Park with an NBA Crossover, so on Saturday one of the things people can do is watch the G League dunk contest, always a fan favorite, then on Sunday at G League Park will be the G League Next Up Game and that\u2019s included in the Crossover entry cost. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there are so many things we\u2019re adding and that we\u2019ll be announcing in the next few days I encourage everyone to go to the NBA events app and see the full schedule, which will be updated in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NBA has evolved, so too has its midseason showcase. The league\u2019s 75th All-Star Game takes place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[190865,14510,49,48,190866,4404,9392,15274,11493,1112,190862,459,190861,173197,190864,190863,19685,82,2552],"class_list":{"0":"post-468144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-all-star-celebrity-game","9":"tag-all-star-weekend","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-concert-thursday","13":"tag-country","14":"tag-event","15":"tag-fan","16":"tag-friday-night","17":"tag-game","18":"tag-kelly-flatow","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-nba-crossover","21":"tag-nba-g-league","22":"tag-outdoor-hoop","23":"tag-place-sunday","24":"tag-saturday","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}