Chicago-born artist and actress Jennifer Hudson will perform a special tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant—as well as the seven other people who tragically died in a helicopter crash late last month—to open the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, the league announced on Thursday.
The game and performance will take place at Chicago's United Center on Sunday, Feb. 16. For halftime, another Chicago native, Chance the Rapper, will perform alongside Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, and Quavo. Common and Taylor Bennett will also be in attendance for All-Star Weekend.
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Bennett will perform at halftime of the NBA Rising Stars game on Friday, Feb. 14, while Common will share "a moving narrative about what basketball means to the city" before tip-off at the All-Star Game. Chaka Khan, who's also a Chicagoan, is scheduled to sing the national anthem for the Feb. 16 game.
The weekend will also feature Queen Latifah, who's also from the city, and Chicago youth performing a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Love's in Need of Love Today."
For the game itself, players will honor Kobe and Gianna by wearing their respective jersey numbers. Team LeBron will wear Gianna's No. 2 while Team Giannis will wear Kobe's No. 24. The game will air on TNT at 8 p.m. ET.
The 2020 NBA All-Star game will pay tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant 🙏
💜 Team LeBron will wear No. 2 and Team Giannis will wear No. 24, their jersey numbers.
💛 Both teams will wear patches with 9 stars, representing those who lost their lives in the helicopter crash. pic.twitter.com/mgOCPpqJ65
The NBA previously announced a new set of rules for the All-Star game that will pay tribute to Kobe.
The NBA announced today a new format for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game that makes the outcome of every quarter count for charity. The changes include a new fourth-quarter format that will honor the late Kobe Bryant.
Full release: https://t.co/l6e25lgQCa pic.twitter.com/C3gDppTYiw
