NBA All-Star Weekend 2023 is rapidly approaching, as the basketball world will descend on Salt Lake City for the annual midseason break. The rosters for the All-Star Game and Rising Stars Game have both been announced, with some injury replacements still to come, leaving the Saturday night festivities and Friday’s Celebrity Game as the last remaining pieces to the All-Star Weekend puzzle.
On Wednesday, the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game roster was unveiled, as the 11-player teams will play for honorary captains Ryan Smith (Jazz owner) and Dwyane Wade (future HOFer and minority owner of the Jazz). Coaching Team Wade will be Giannis Anetotkounmpo, with his brothers, Thanasis and Alex, serving as assistants along with Lindsey Vonn. Team Ryan will be coached by a “surprise guest” with Astros third baseman Alex Bregman as an assistant.
The two WNBA stars joining the 20 celebrities will be Diamond DeShields and Arike Ogunbowale, with stars from all over the sports and entertainment world joining them on the court.
Team Ryan
Cordae
Diamond DeShields
Calvin Johnson
DK Metcalf
Hasan Minhaj
Marcos Mion
The Miz
Everett Osborne
Ozuna
Guillermo Rodriguez
Sinqua Walls
Team Wade
Kane Brown
Nicky Jam
Jesser
Simu Liu
Janelle Monae
Arike Ogunbowale
Albert Pujols
21 Savage
Ranveer Singh
Frances Tiafoe
Alex Toussaint
I’ll be honest, just from a sheer size perspective, Team Ryan seems to have an edge with DK Metcalf and Calvin Johnson. That said, I really hope Janelle Monae is an absolute hooper. We’ll find out all of their basketball abilities on Friday, February 17 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
