ESPN, INC. AT NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND 2007
ESPN TO TELEVISE NBA ALL-STAR CELEBRITY GAME LIVE FEB. 16
ESPN RADIO AND ESPN INTERNATIONAL TO PRESENT 56TH NBA ALL-STAR GAME
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE ON SPORTSCENTER, ESPN RADIO, ESPN.COM AND MORE

ESPN will televise the 2007 McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Presented by 2K Sports Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. ET from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., featuring Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, Grammy Award-winning recording artist Nelly, “Desperate Housewives” star James Denton, New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush, actor and executive producer David Arquette, WNBA players Katie Smith (Detroit Shock) and Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever) and more. ESPN’s Mark Jones will provide play-by-play for the event with analysts Jon Barry and Tom Tolbert and reporters Stuart Scott and Jim Gray. The game, which will also be available in high definition, will highlight ESPN’s multimedia coverage of NBA All-Star 2007 including SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN Classic, ESPN International and more.

The All-Star Celebrity Game will feature two teams: the West squad with ESPN NBA analyst and Las Vegas native Greg Anthony serving as head coach and “Mr. Las Vegas” Wayne Newton as assistant coach, vs. the East coached by ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler along with assistant coach James Pickens, Jr. (Grey’s Anatomy). Each team’s full rosters (subject to change):

NEWS AND INFORMATION

SPORTSCENTER
Reporter Shelley Smith and analysts Anthony, Stephen A. Smith and Tim Legler will provide coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas along with Ric Bucher, who will also report for ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine.

ESPN's Rome is Burning (M-F, 4:30-5 p.m.), Around the Horn (M-F, 5-5:30 p.m.), Pardon the Interruption (M-F, 5:30-6 p.m.) and ESPN2’s Cold Pizza (M-F, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. with 12-2 p.m. re-air) will also provide coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend.

ESPNEWS
The nation’s only 24-hour sports news television network will feature guest and player interviews from Las Vegas throughout All-Star Weekend.

NBA FASTBREAK
Matt Winer will host ESPN’s NBA Fastbreak episodes late Saturday at 12:40 a.m. (9:40 p.m. PT) and late Sunday at 1 a.m. (10 p.m. PT) with analysts Dee Brown and Jamal Mashburn.

NBA MATCHUP
Fred Hickman will host NBA Matchup, a program examining x’s and o’s from recent NBA action, Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with analysts Legler and Kiki Vandeweghe.

NBA All-Star Special with Ahmad Rashad
Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Ahmad Rashad will host an NBA All-Star Special on ABC Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. Rashad, who hosts ABC’s NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad (Sun., Feb. 18 at 1 p.m.), will present features on the friendship between San Antonio Spurs All-Star Tim Duncan and his coach Gregg Popovich, the Phoenix Suns and the comeback of Amare Stoudemire, and Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer – the successors to the Utah Jazz's legendary duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone. The special will also spotlight the journey of Chicago Bulls star and Sudan native Luol Deng from the dirt courts of Eastern Africa to the hardwood courts of the NBA, the league's most-talked-about merger – the Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson – and NBA All-Star 2007 first-team selection Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards.

ESPN RADIO
For the 11th consecutive year, ESPN Radio will present complete, three-day coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend – including all of the following events – culminating with the NBA All-Star Game Sunday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m.
 
Friday
9-11 p.m.: T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam – Toronto Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani, the first overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Andrew Bogut, the first overall selection in the 2005 NBA Draft, will attempt to lead their respective teams to victory when the NBA’s top rookies meet this year’s sophomores in the annual Rookie Challenge. Jim Durham and Dr. Jack Ramsay will describe the action.

Saturday
6-8:30 p.m.: Meet the All Stars – host Marc Kestecher and Durham, Ramsay and Will Perdue, who will team in providing coverage throughout the evening, will interview players and other personalities. ESPN Radio will also present the third annual “Ramsays,” the mid-season awards named after the basketball Hall-of-Famer and ESPN Radio NBA analyst.

8:30-11 p.m.: NBA All-Star Saturday Night Presented by EA Sports

• Haier Shooting Stars: for the fourth consecutive year, four teams consisting of an NBA player, WNBA player and NBA legend will compete in a timed one-round shooting event. Last year’s San Antonio team of Tony Parker (Spurs), Kendra Wecker (Silver Stars), and retired Spurs guard Steve Kerr, won the event. Hall of Famer George Gervin replaces Kerr on this year’s team.
• PlayStation Skills Challenge: four NBA stars will compete in an obstacle course challenge that tests shooting, passing and dribbling skills. Reigning NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade will return this year to defend his Skills title against a superstar field: ’06 runner-up LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), back-to-back league MVP Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.
• Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout: Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki will attempt to defend last year’s Three-Point Shootout triumph against some of the game’s elite long-range shooters. ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler won the event in 1996 as a Washington Bullet.
• Sprite Slam Dunk: New York Knicks’ 5’9” point guard Nate Robinson will try to defend his Slam Dunk title, competing against three first-time entrants, Boston’s Gerald Green, Orlando All-Star center Dwight Howard, and Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas.

Sunday
8 p.m.: 56th NBA All-Star Game – The much-anticipated action among the NBA’s best will be described by Durham (play-by-play), Ramsay (analyst), Kestecher (on-site studio host), Perdue (on-site studio analyst), and Bucher and Shelley Smith (courtside reporters)

ESPN.COM
ESPN.com will offer fans complete online coverage of NBA All-Star weekend, including:

• Live chats with ESPN.com NBA analysts during the NBA All-Star Game;
• an All-Star Scorecard with ESPN.com analyst John Hollinger providing grades and comments on all player performances (including the Rookie-Sophomore game Friday night, the Saturday skills competitions and the All-Star Game Sunday night;
• Marc Stein reporting on NBA All-Star storylines, including an in-depth preview of the All-Star Game on Sunday night; ESPN.com NBA Insider Chris Sheriden reporting the latest news and information – including NBA Commissioner David Stern’s All-Star Weekend news conference on Saturday – and rumors from All-Star Weekend;
• ESPN.com Page 2 columnists Bill Simmons and Scoop Jackson writing All-Star columns from Las Vegas;
• Eric Neel offering a daily video diary capturing some of the offbeat stories from All-Star Weekend;
  Scout Inc.’s Antonio Williams taking a look at the “stars in the making” at the NBA D-League All-Star Game.

ESPN CLASSIC
ESPN Classic will celebrate NBA All-Star weekend with the following programming Sunday, Feb. 18 starting at 12:30 p.m.:

Classic Vintage NBA All-Star Team of the Decade
Offering an historic look at the All-Star Game since the 1950’s.
1993 NBA All-Star Game
Utah teammates Karl Malone and John Stockton lead the West team to an exciting 135-132 overtime victory.
1998 NBA All-Star Game
Michael Jordan earns his third All-Star MVP award in the East’s 135-114 win.
2003 NBA All-Star Game
Michael Jordan plays in his final All-Star Game, but the West prevails 155-145.

ESPN INTERNATIONAL
ESPN International will televise the NBA All-Star Game, Rookie Challenge and NBA All-Star Saturday to 46 countries including viewers in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Africa. 

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