The NBA celebrates Africa with an All-Star halftime show featuring Burna Boy and more
The NBA played it’s 72nd All-Star Game on Sunday, seeing Team Giannis defeat Team Lebron. The game’s MVP was Jayson Tatum from the Boston Celtics who scored an All-Star Game record 55 points. Taking place in Salt Lake City for the first time since 1993, the game featured an all-African halftime performance. Some of the continent’s biggest stars rocked the stage with Afrobeat and Afropop hits. Performers, Burna Boy, Rema and Tems were all introduced by Toronto Raptors’ All-Star Pascal Siakiam who hails from Cameroon.
Burna Boy kicked it off with his chart toppers, “Anybody” and “It’s Plenty.” Rema was next up and rocked the energetic Utah crowd with his songs “Calm Down” and “Holiday.” Tems repped for the ladies and followed up with a monster set of her own, featuring her tracks, “Crazy Tings,” and “Free Mind.” Tems also included her popular verses from Wizkid’s “Essence” and Future’s “Wait For U.”
Burna Boy came back out to close the show with his smash hit “Last Last.”
The NBA has made many efforts to continue and globalize the league and the sport of basketball. In partnership with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the NBA helped create the Basketball Africa League and the NBA Academy Africa which features a state of the art training facility in Senegal.
Be sure to check out the entertaining performance above.
Jeff Dess is an editor for DETOUR, an award-winning educator, best-selling author and notable public speaker who specializes in the areas of Learning and Development and culturally responsive education. As a public speaker and facilitator Jeff has reached over 100,000 learners. Jeff is an author of six books. We Wear Kicks to Works is an Amazon best-seller, which further explores the intersection of pop culture, leadership, and education.
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This story was originally published February 20, 2023 at 1:47 PM.