A week before the start of NBA All-Star Weekend, the rosters for the annual All-Star Celebrity Game have been announced. As has become the norm, several prominent creators will play alongside celebs from other fields. Top streamer Kai Cenat and comedian Lilly Singh will join the team led by NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, while hooper Tristan Jass will suit up for the squad coached by basketball pundit Stephen A. Smith.
As the creator and basketball worlds have become increasingly intertwined, NBA All-Star Weekend has become a hot spot for the personalities affiliated with groups like 2HYPE and House of Highlights. Jesse “Jesser” Riedel joined the fun last year during a period of rapid growth on his channels, and Jass will represent YouTube’s basketball community at the 2024 celeb game.
Jass, a Kenosha, Wisconsin native, will head to Indianapolis after previously rubbing shoulders with NBA royalty in Las Vegas. He was one of the influencers who participated in a Creator Cup that took place adjacent to the finals of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
The other creators who will lace up their sneakers for the celeb game may not shoot as well as Jass, but their outsized personalities have made them internet icons. Singh became one of YouTube’s most marketable stars
in the 2010s, when her exploits on her “Superwoman” hub led to ambassadorships, multiple world tours, and awards. Her digital presence has subsided sincethe end of her ill-fated NBC talk show, but she is still active on Instagram and is preparing to premiere a feature film called Doin’ It at SXSW.
Cenat’s prominence on Twitch has earned him plenty of offline deals of his own. His diminutive size (some sources list his height at just 5’3″) may limit his basketball abilities, but he has been working hard to prepare for his All-Star Celebrity Game debut.
The celeb game will tip off on Friday, February 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. Two days later, actual NBA players will converge at the same venue to contest the annual All-Star Game.
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