The best, worst and most Drake-filled moments of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

The best, worst and most Drake-filled moments of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

The headliners of Toronto’s NBA All-Star Weekend are, you know, actual basketball players. Kobe Bryant. LeBron James. Stephen Curry. Maybe you’ve heard of them. They’ll all be playing at the ACC on Sunday night.

However, the weekend is also a chance for famous (okay, mostly semi-famous) entertainers to live their other dreams—athletic ones. Hence, the Mountain Dew Celebrity Game, which happened Friday night at Ricoh Coliseum. While Drake, as always, made the most headlines (sorry), there were a number of B-listers who figured prominently.

Here are some top moments from the evening. (For the record, Canada won the game 74-63.)

Top Five Best Players

1) Actor Jason Sudeikis hit a three-pointer before most of the fans had gotten in their seats, and had a sweet driving layup moments later. He hit a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, too. He finished with 14 points. He can ball.

2) Tennis star Milos Raonic might have cherry-picked a little bit, but he can run the floor.

Win Butler and actor Anthony Anderson (Image: Giordano Ciampini)

3) Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler appeared to be a tad over his playing weight, but he was the only player with any actual post moves, and he dominated on the glass. He ended up with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and even won MVP.

4) Property Brother Drew Scott is versatile. He gives off the feel of a glue guy. Remember Jorge Garbajosa, Raptors fans?

5) O’Shea Jackson Jr.—who played his dad, Ice Cube, in Straight Outta Compton—hit some shots, and was not afraid to celebrate. He also was not afraid to argue with the referees.

Top Five Worst Players

1) Stephan James, who will play sprinter Jesse Owens in the forthcoming movie Race, airballed a free throw. DeAndre Jordan feels his pain.

2) Former Raptors swingman Tracy McGrady was just awful in the first half, and missed shots badly all night long. He had some decent moments on the glass, though. McGrady threw his arms in the air, praising the heavens, when he finally hit a shot.

3) Props to Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry for suiting up. At 55, however, he is awfully earthbound.

Eugenie Bouchard ties her shoe (Image: Giordano Ciampini)

4) Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard didn’t play much. Her lining up in the wrong spot during the jump ball to start the game was probably a reason why.

5) Jonathan Scott, the other Property Brother, was not quite at his brother’s level.

Top Five Best Moments
(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

1) American coach Kevin Hart, the Celebrity Game’s four-time MVP, refused to shake hands with Drake, Canada’s coach. Bad sportsmanship, but a well-played heel turn. “We try to be polite,” Drake said. “It is what it is.”

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

2) Raonic dunked. For real! Well, it wasn’t exactly a clean dunk, but it was closer than most people could get.

3) “Usually Drake is at our games trying to coach us from the sidelines,” assistant coach DeMar DeRozan said of his boss for the night. DeRozan had another gem during halftime interviews: “We’ve just got to make our free throws,” he said when asked what the key to victory was, channeling the coaching cliché.

Kris Wu (Image: Giordano Ciampini)

4) Singer/actor Kris Wu had a rough evening, but when he finally got a layup to go, the crowd erupted. He was the fan favourite, for sure.

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

5) In his post-game interview, Butler retired as a celebrity basketball player, and then said the United States had a lot to learn from Canada in an election year, like universal health care. ESPN’s Sage Steele abruptly cut off the interview at that point.

Top Five Worst Moments

1) Raonic, from Thornhill, shook hands and posed for a picture with Toronto mayor John Tory before the game. The mayors of Vaughan and Markham could not be reached for comment.

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

2) Muggsy Bogues, the 5-foot-3 former point guard, had to defend McGrady, the 6-foot-9 former all-star, in the post. He actually did a wonderful job, forcing a miss from in close. Unfortunately, he was called for fouling McGrady’s chest with his face.

3) There was an eight-second half court violation and a delay-of-game warning. At a celebrity game. Come on: these things are not supposed to feel at all real.

4) Sudeikis swatted a shot attempt from Bouchard. It was pretty much her only aggressive moment of the night. Chill out, Jason.

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

5) Nobody was surprised when Hart ditched his street clothes for a uniform, coming into the game in the third quarter in an attempt to lead an American comeback. He played poorly.

Top Five Fan Moments

1) Literally every sign that a fan brought was for Kris Wu. The fans went crazy for him whenever he touched the ball.

2) A large man owned the lip-syncing segment on the Jumbotron, busting a move to T-Swift’s “Shake It Off.” That there appeared to be no actual lip-syncing didn’t bother anybody.

3) Olivia Wilde was courtside, supporting her fiance, Sudeikis. She was sitting next to director/Knicks superfan Spike Lee.

4) Food Network host Guy Fieri was in the crowd. There has been no word on whether he thought the hot dogs at Ricoh Coliseum had “righteous flavour.”

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

5) Odell Beckham Jr., the New York Giants receiver, was in the crowd. He has Marcus Stroman’s haircut, but a bit tamer.

Top Five Worst Fashion Choices
(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

1) DeMar DeRozan’s brown coat and blue jeans would not have met the NBA’s standards for coaching attire.

Jose Bautista in his coaching outfit (Image: Giordano Ciampini)

2) Neither would Blue Jays outfielder/bat flipper Jose Bautista’s getup: a cap and long-sleeve t-shirt.

3) Same for Steve Nash’s hoodie. Drake’s assistants need to fall in line.

4) Bouchard tied up both her t-shirt and game jersey in a knot. Violation.

5) As pointed out by Minnesota basketball writer Steve McPherson, Golden State forward Draymond Green wore a coat that looked like it was plucked from Billy Bob Thornton’s wardrobe from the first season of Fargo.

Top Five Drake Moments

1) The Raptors’ global ambassador actually dressed the part. Navy blazer, gold buttons, black pants. Very coachlike.

(Image: Giordano Ciampini)

2) Mayor Tory gave Drake the key to the city before the game. “It is non-transferable,” Tory said. “You can’t give it to Lil Wayne.” Drake called it one of the biggest moments of his life. “I will never stop loving this city. I will never stop representing this city wherever I go.”

3) “I’m trying to channel my inner coach [Dwane] Casey, my inner Gregg Popovich,” Drake said before the game. Good for him for mentioning the Raptors coach before the Spurs legend. Always on-brand.

4) Drake was actually engaged throughout. “In what world, ref?” he asked after a Canadian turnover looked to go off of the American team.

5) He paced the sidelines for nearly all of the game, which is more than you could say for his American counterpart, who could not keep himself out of uniform. Way to own the part, Aubrey.