The 15th NBA Celebrity All-Star Game will take place on Friday at 7 p.m., with ESPN journalists (and new hosts of the 6 p.m. SportsCenter) Jemele Hill and Michael Smith leading the East and West teams, respectively.
The two celebrity squads will square off in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. ESPN will televise the event.
Here's a look at both rosters and breakdowns of each, starting with the West.
West Coaches
Coach
Occupation
Michael Smith
ESPN Journalist (SportsCenter)
Draymond Green
NBA Player (Golden State Warriors)
Rocsi Diaz
TV Personality (best known for hosting
106 & Park)
West Roster
Player
Occupation
Miles Brown
Actor (best known for Black-ish)
Tom Cavanagh
Actor (best known for Ed, The Flash)
Mark Cuban
Dallas Mavericks owner, entrepreneur, Shark Tank shark
Baron Davis
Former NBA player (Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors among others)
Andy Grammer
Recording artist (best known for "Honey, I'm Good")
Jiang Jinfu
Actor and model (best known for Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar Of Sky)
Anthony Mackie
Actor (best known for The Hurt Locker and Captain America: Civil War)
Romeo Miller
Actor, recording artist (best known for No. 1 single "My Baby" when he was known as Lil' Romeo, and he has also appeared in numerous TV shows and movies)
Hasan Minhaj
Actor, comedian (best known for his role as a correspondent on The Daily Show)
Master P
Actor, recording artist, rap mogul, entrepreneur (best known for starting No Limit Records and two albums produced in late 1990s—Ghetto D and MP da Last Don—that went three-time and four-time platinum)
Candace Parker
Current WNBA player (Los Angeles Sparks)
Aaron Sanchez
Celebrity chef (best known for being a judge on Chopped)
This roster is stacked, featuring one of the best women's basketball players of all time (Parker), a former NBA star (Davis, who averaged 16 points and seven assists per game), a player who scored 17 points in the 2008 celebrity game (Master P, who also tried out for the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors) and his son Romeo Miller, who played high school basketball and briefly at USC.
The four of them could carry this team, although I wonder if Mark Cuban has a little Bruce Bowen in him and shines as a tenacious defensive specialist who can knock down the corner three.
For head coach Michael Smith, the strategy should be pretty simple. Start Davis at the point, Romeo at shooting guard, Mark Cuban at small forward and the 6'3" Master P and 6'4" Candace Parker down low.
As for subs, Smith should lead off with whoever has the most basketball experience and at least has a semblance of an idea regarding fundamentals, as these games are largely frenzied and chaotic.
East Coaches
Coach
Occupation
Jemele Hill
ESPN journalist (SportsCenter)
Kyle Lowry
NBA player (Toronto Raptors)
Fat Joe
Recording artist (best known for his No. 1 single "Lean Back")
East Roster
Player
Occupation
Brandon Armstrong
Former professional basketball player (best known for impersonations of NBA players on YouTube)
Win Butler
Recording artist (lead singer, Arcade Fire)
Nick Cannon
Actor, recording artist (best known as former host for America's Got Talent among other shows)
Rachel DeMita
Host, NBA2KTV
Ansel Elgort
Actor, recording artist (best known for the movie The Fault in Our Stars)
Marc Lasry
Milwaukee Bucks owner, hedge fund manager
Caleb McLaughlin
Actor (best known for Stranger Things)
Peter Rosenberg
Radio DJ, co-host, TV show host (best known for Ebro in the Morning and The Michael Kay Show)
Oscar Schmidt
Former professional basketball player who had a 30-year career in Brazil and Europe. Best known for his role on the Brazilian national team, playing in five Olympic Games.
Lindsey Whalen
Current WNBA player (Minnesota Lynx)
Jason Williams
Former NBA player (best known for time on Sacramento Kings when he rose to fame for his ball-handling skills)
Kris Wu
Actor, recording artist, model (best known for role in xXx: Return of Xander Cage)
This team isn't so bad either.
Win Butler was basically the Andre Drummond of last year's celebrity game with 15 points and 14 boards in just 22 minutes. The 6'4" Butler has a tall task ahead of him, though, as he might face off against Candace Parker.
Expect Jason Williams to run the point for the West side and pull off some of the moves that gave him fame during his playing days:
Brandon Armstrong should join him in the backcourt and pretend he's James Harden or Russell Westbrook:
Otherwise, Hill should employ a three-guard lineup to start and have Whalen join Armstrong and Williams in the backcourt.
Then, Oscar Schmidt, who was a wing player when active but is 6'8", should go down low and use his distinct height advantage. He could be like the Nikola Jokic of this celebrity game, in that he'd be a big man with point guard skills.
Schmidt may be 59 years old now, but he's one of the best world basketball players of all time. I'm not about to bet against him.
As for the bench, Rachel DeMita earned a scholarship to Division I Old Dominion University, so she could be the sixth person and give a breather to one of the three guards on the floor.
Outside of DeMita, Hill should employ the same strategy as Smith and just play the celebrities who actually know basketball fundamentals.