“Beyoncé and Jay-Z in the front row” - Gilbert Arenas recalls his first NBA All-Star game
The NBA All-Star Game is only a week away and will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The All-Star Game promises to be a spectacle with a rich variation of players from across the league.
On an NBA All-Star Game special with 3-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, Arenas spoke about the 71st NBA All-Star Game, and captains selecting their All-Star teams.
The 2003 Most Improved Player of the Year also shared experiences from his first All-Star appearance. He highlighted that players are more worried about the second half of the season, while still crediting their selection as an honor.
"Usually your first All-Star, you're just happy to be there. You can either come out strong or you can just try to enjoy that moment. But players enjoy All-Star, because it represents like status. But they really worried about that second half of the season. So it all depends on how close you're to winning the MVP."
On being asked about his first appearance, Arenas relived a fond memory of seeing Beyoncé and Jay-Z sit in the front row watching him play. He stated this was a standout memory for him. He went on to classify the All-Star Game as the "biggest pickup game in the world."
"Beyoncé and Jay-Z in the front row. That's really them! When you get there and you sit on and they call your name. You just see every superstar sitting in that front row. Just the fact that you get them in one building, that's just different.. The All-Star Game is like the biggest pick up game in the world."
NBA All-Star official starters and reserves for Team LeBron James and Kevin Durant
For this year's all-star game, LeBron James and Kevin Durant were tasked with selecting their starters and reserves. Players were chosen from both the Eastern and Western conference pools of shortlisted players.
The 8 starters list consisted of the players who received the most votes from fans, players and media, while the reserves were selected by the 30 NBA coaches.
The full #NBAAllStar Game roster for #TeamLeBron!
2022 #NBAAllStar Game: Sunday, Feb. 20 on TNT & TBS https://t.co/ajz2HZOGNX
Live on TNT, both captains selected their starters with Team LeBron consisting of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Jokic.
Durant selected Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Andrew Wiggins and Trae Young as his starting lineup.
The reserves selected by LeBron include Luka Doncic, Darius Garland, Jimmy Butler, Chris Paul, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet and James Harden.
Devin Booker, Zach LaVine, Karl-Anthony Towns, Khris Middleton, LaMelo Ball, Dejounte Murray and Rudy Gobert will be the reserves for Team Durant.