Kevin Hart Joins NBA As First-Ever Emcee At 2025 All-Star Game
Kevin Hart to make history as first-ever emcee for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game debuting a new format, featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, and Candace Parker. We discuss it here!
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Super Bowl LIX for season 2024, NFL Final, American football championship game in Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
Credit: kovop
By: Joshua Martin
Comedian Kevin Hart has been announced as the first ever emcee for this year’s NBA All Star game. The star-studded annual event is introducing this new element as it debuts a new game format set to debut Sunday (Feb. 16th) at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The 45-year-old and 4 time Celebrity Game MVP will bring his signature humor and energy to the court, leveraging his longtime relationships with the league and its stars. The famous actor will be joined by Ernie Johnson, and team general managers Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Candance Parker, and Kenny Smith as hype basketball fans tune in from around the world.
The 2025 NBA All-Star Game will feature four teams and three games in its first year playing this new format. Each game will be won by the first team to score 40 points. Each team will have eight players and be named for a TNT NBA analyst. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith chose their rosters from the All-Star player pool in the NBA All-Star Draft. Candace Parker’s team will be the Castrol Rising Stars champion.
The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million, with each player on the championship winning team receiving $125,000, each player on the second place team receiving $50,000 and each player on the third and fourth place teams receiving $25,000.
In addition to Kevin Hart, the NBA has enlisted a variety of talent in various roles for the 2025 All-Star weekend, with the full lineup recognizing the Bay Area’s contribution to music and culture. Kicking off the festivities, Bay Area rapper LaRussell will take the stage to perform an original song to introduce the 2025 Castrol Rising Stars on Friday (Feb. 14th), with the event broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV, and MAX.
To watch the 2025 NBA All-Star game, tune in tune to TNT, TBS, truTV, and MAX on Feb. 16th, at 8 p.m. ET.
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Candace Parker, WNBA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, Retires
After a storied basketball journey, Candace Parker announced her retirement through social media on Sunday. We discuss it here!
Candace Parker takes a photo for the Chicago Sky.
Photo cred: Nolis Anderson
By: Joshua Martin
Women’s basketball legend Candace Parker officially hangs up her sneaks after a storied college, pro and olympic career. The 3 time WNBA champion shared the news with her followers, Sunday (April 28th), with a lengthy social media post. The 38 year old expressed her love for the game and the factors that lead to her retirement.
“I promised I’d never cheat the game & that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it. The competitor in me always wants 1 more, but it’s time.”
Candace Parker poses for the Chicago Sky.
Photo cred: Nolis Anderson
“My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it. I always wanted to walk off the court with no parade or tour, just privately with the ones I love. What now was to be my last game, I walked off the court with my daughter. I ended the journey just as I started it, with her.”
The two time League MVP also mentioned that a string of foot injuries also contributed to her calling it quits earlier than expected.
“This offseason hasn’t been fun on a foot that isn’t cooperating. It’s no fun playing in pain (10 surgeries in my career) it’s no fun knowing what you could do, if only…it’s no fun hearing ‘she isn’t the same’ when I know why, it’s no fun accepting the fact you need surgery AGAIN.”
The former No. 1 overall player coming out of highschool enrolled at the University of Tennessee under the legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summit. While there Parker won two National Championships simultaneously being recognized as the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player both times. She would later be drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2008 WNBA draft.
In 2016, Parker led the Sparks to an WNBA title and was named the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player. In 2021, Parker signed with her hometown team, the Chicago Sky, and led the franchise to its first championship and the second of her career.
Parker signed with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023, winning her third title in the process. An TNT analyst, the newly retired Parker will continue her role with the company.
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