NBA All-Star 2020 Will Reach Fans in 215 Countries and Territories in 47 Languages
All-Star Starters Antetokounmpo, Dončić, Embiid and Siakam Headline Record Eight International All-Stars; NBA All-Star 2020 Will Reach Fans in 215 Countries and Territories in 47 Languages
FRI, FEB 14 2020-theG&BJournal- A record 19 international players from 15 countries will participate in NBA All-Star 2020 (NBA.com/AllStar), which will reach fans in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages on their televisions, computers, mobile phones and tablets. This includes NBA Rising Stars on Friday, Feb. 14 at 9 p.m. ET, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. ET, the 69th NBA AllStar Game on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, as well as behind-the-scenes coverage and interviews throughout the week.
Below are international highlights of this year’s global celebration of basketball:
In total, there are a record 19 international players from 15 countries participating in NBA Rising Stars, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night and/or the 69th NBA All-Star Game.
Among the record eight international NBA All-Stars, a record four international players were voted NBA All-Star Game starters (https://on.nba.com/31Q2uGT): Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece), Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011) and Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012). Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz; France), Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia), Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers; Lithuania) and Ben Simmons (76ers; Australia) round out the record eight international NBA All-Stars.
For the sixth consecutive year, NBA Rising Stars (https://on.nba.com/3bxFIbj) will pit 10 first- and second-year NBA players from the United States against 10 first- and second-year NBA players from around the world in the league’s annual showcase of premier young talent during NBA All-Star.The World Team features a record four Canadian players, marking the most players from any country outside the U.S. in one NBA Rising Stars game.The World Team also includes three former Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global campers: RJ Barrett (New York Knicks; Canada; BWB Global 2017), Rui Hachimura (Washington Wizards; Japan; BWB Global 2016) and Shai GilgeousAlexander (LA Clippers; Canada; BWB Global 2016). Hachimura is the first Japanese player to be named to a NBA Rising Stars roster.
The NBA and FIBA will conduct the sixth annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp (https://on.nba.com/2SoA6bK) from Friday, Feb. 14 – Sunday, Feb. 16 at Quest Multisport as part of NBA All-Star 2020. Current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players, including Siakam, Davis Bertāns (Wizards; Latvia), Tacko Fall (Boston Celtics; Senegal), Cristiano Felicio (Chicago Bulls; Brazil) and 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie First Team member Lauri Markkanen (Bulls; Finland; BWB Europe 2014; BWB Global 2015), will coach the top 64 high school age campers from 34 countries and regions across Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. Since the BWB program launched in 2001, 69 former BWB campers have been drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents.
Fans around the world can participate in the NBA All-Star 2020 experience through NBA League Pass via watch.NBA.com and the NBA App (https://on.nba.com/3bzJktb). For the second consecutive year, fans outside of North America will be able to purchase and watch portions of NBA All-Star events inprogress at reduced prices, including NBA Rising Stars, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night and the 69th NBA All-Star Game. Fans can visit https://watch.nba.com/packages for more information.
Fans around the world will be able to vote for the MVPs of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles (via SMS and Twitter), NBA Rising Stars (via NBA.com/NBA App, SMS and Twitter) and the Kia NBA All-Star Game MVP (via NBA.com/NBA App, SMS and Twitter).Fans in China can vote on NBA.com.
Four hundred twenty-five international media members from 54 countries and territories are credentialed to cover NBA All-Star 2020 in Chicago.
Fans around the world can watch a livestream of NBA All-Star Media Day presented by AT&T on Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. ET at mediaday.nba.com.
Nine international television and radio networks from the Balkans, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, Latin America, Mongolia, Poland and Spain will do live onsite commentary at NBA All-Star 2020. Ten television networks from Australia, the Balkans, Baltics, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines and Ukraine will broadcast NBA All-Star remotely for the first time.
NBA and WNBA players and legends will join 12 Special Olympics (http://bit.ly/2UP912Z) athletes from four countries (Belgium, Canada, South Korea and the U.S.) for the ninth annual NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified® Basketball Game on Feb. 14.The Unified Game will take place prior to the NBA AllStar Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles at Wintrust Arena and stream live on the NBA’s official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nba/.
The 2020 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. ET will feature awarding-winning Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny, Spanish-American chef and humanitarian José Andrés, Nigerian-American recording artist Jidenna, German- and JapaneseAmerican gymnast, poet and activist Katelyn Ohashi, Bucks co-owner and Moroccan-American Marc Lasry, and 2K Sports marketing director and Indian-American Ronnie 2K.
International influencers from Argentina, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa and Tanzania will participate in the NBA All-Star 2020 International Celebrity-Influencer All-Access Program, receiving behind-the-scenes access to the weekend’s events.
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