The All-Star weekend in the NBA not only signifies a well-deserved break for the coaches and players but also signals the beginning of the final stretch of basketball heading into the playoffs. However, All-Star weekend, set in New Orleans, is filled with competitive events that are pure entertainment.
Aside from the celebrity game, three-point contest and dunk contest, the NBA will feature some new activities this weekend, in the lead up to the main events. One of those new events to debut this weekend will be the NBA Talent Challenge, where players get a chance to demonstrate their off-the-court talents.
TNT will be exclusively airing the events all weekend long, with the NBA Talent Challenge to take place on Saturday, at 2:00 P.M., Pacific standard time. Turner.com provided a brief intro into the new event, with a wide array of talents that will be judged by the TNT crew:
The talent show, produced by Turner Sports in association with Juma Entertainment, will feature eight finalists showing off their special skills, including Miami’s Chris Bosh playing guitar, Phoenix’s Devin Booker playing ping pong, Oklahoma City’s Victor Oladipo singing and Cleveland’s Iman Shumpert and the Lakers’ Metta World Peace and Lou Williams rapping. The telecast will be hosted by Johnson with Barkley, Smith and O’Neal serving as judges. Fan voting will determine the winner from a pool of five finalists. – See more at: https://www.turner.com/pressroom/tnt-exclusively-present-live-coverage-nba-all-star-2017-marquee-events-new-orleans-feb-16#sthash.Kd9LYxsn.dpuf
Los Angeles Lakers veterans Lou Williams and Metta World Peace will both be on the main stage, as they will take on a rap performance for their portion of the competition. It remains to be seen if a duo will be together or if they’ll take individual turns, but NBA fans are certainly in a for a treat.
World Peace has his own experience in the music world, with his own recording label and his attempt at the rap game. His record label group is called Artest Media Group, which has many produced and up and coming artists signed to it.
He famously created the song ‘Champions’ after the Lakers clinched the Game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals. During his post-game press conference, the small forward of the Lakers yelled at media and the viewers to download his hit song. World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, also released a rap album in 2006, titled ‘My World’.
On the other hand, Williams also isn’t any stranger to the rap game, as he has released multiple songs over the years. When he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, he did a remix to Pennsylvania-born rapper Meek Mill’s ‘I’m a boss’.
His production with Meek Mill didn’t stop there, as they teamed up for the track titled ‘I Want It All’. Williams also did a remix to the recent hit ‘Panda,’ by Desiigner. In an interview with Lakers Nation, Williams stated that he has taken his rap songs seriously, with a bunch of unreleased songs on his laptop.
Those unreleased songs have actually earned an album name, titled ‘The Album That Never Was’. Williams stated that those songs are private and that he didn’t envision himself releasing them anytime soon.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert will also be competing in the rap portion of the NBA Talent Challenge, with TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson serving as the judges. No matter what the outcome of the competition is, NBA fans are certainly in for a treat this All-Star Weekend.