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Friday, Feb. 14, the NBA All-Star Weekend continued with a celebrity-filled competition for Valentine’s Day. Sponsored by Ruffles, the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game pitted ESPN commentators Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon together as the head coaches of the match.
TV show personality and Mayor of Flavortown Guy Fieri served as Smith’s assistant coach, and “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Jesse Williams was the assistant coach for Wilbon’s team.
The game began with 24.2 seconds of silence to pay respect to Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant and the other victims of the helicopter crash from Jan. 26, 2020.
First, the teams went head-to-head in a tissue pull challenge to determine first possession for the game, in which they could only use one hand to pull out every tissue in the box. Famous Los won the face-off and clinched first possession for Team Wilbon.
The face-off win set the tone for the entirety of the game, seeing as Team Wilbon scored first and kept the lead for the majority of the game. As for first quarter highlights, former NFL defensive tackle Anthony “Spice” Adams scored the first point for Team Stephen A. with a lay-up despite being guarded by artist Bad Bunny.
Each team had a player from the WNBA, and Team Wilbon’s Chelsea Gray looked Chance the Rapper dead in the eye as she passed the ball behind her back to give Famous Los the opportunity to score two points.
Team Wilbon captain Common tried to run the ball up the court for a lay-up, but Team Stephen A.’s Quavo shut that down by smacking the ball away the second it left Common’s hand.
NBA player Darius Miles, playing for Team Stephen A., earned lots of laughs for his behavior in the second quarter. He got hooked up with a mic as he played, allowing for the announcers to interview him on the court. When asked how he was feeling in the match, Miles had quite the response.
“Tight as hell,” Miles said. This would set a precedent for the other language he would use throughout the interview spot, with the announcers having to remind him that the Celebrity Game was a family show.
After Miles shut down a throw from Team Wilbon in the middle of the interview and shouted an expletive, he seemed to have caught himself.
“My bad, family show, it’s a family show,” Miles said immediately. “I apologize, it’s a family show.”
With the end of the second quarter, Team Wilbon led 35-31. During halftime, each team was able to add a former NBA player to their roster. Team Wilbon added Horace Grant, and Team Stephen A. added Nate Robinson.
In the third quarter, notable plays include Adams attempting to finesse his way around Common, almost succeeding at scoring a lay-up were it not for Team Wilbon’s NBA representative Quentin Richardson’s interference by slapping the ball out of Adams’ hands without even moving from where he stood. Team Wilbon started to pull away heavily from Team Stephen A. here, a lead which they held for the rest of the game.
Another notable part of the third quarter was Stephen A. getting the first ever technical foul in a Celebrity Game. This appeared to be a premonition on Fieri’s part, since he predicted this in an interview with Dime before the game.
“I don’t know what’s going to take place. Someone might get thrown out of the game,” Fieri said to Dime in an interview. “Someone might get a technical. I think I’ll do my job if I get a technical tonight.”
The game ended 62-47, favoring Team Wilbon. Common was named the MVP of the match, and Famous Los led scoring for his team with 23 points.
