ESPN in the UK

• Annual showcase of world’s best players live on ESPN
• Extensive coverage across NBA All-Star Weekend includes Rising Stars Challenge and Slam-Dunk contest

ESPN will have live coverage of the NBA All-Star weekend as it broadcasts the showcase game and the events building up to it from host city Houston, Texas between Friday 15^th and Sunday 17^th February.

The NBA All-Star Game between the best players from the Western and Eastern Conferences is live on ESPN at 1am on Sunday 17^th February and will feature the biggest names in basketball, each of whom has been chosen to take part by the fans.

The West’s team is made up of Kobe Bryant, who topped the overall voting with 1,591,437 votes, his LA Lakers teammate, center Dwight Howard, LA Clippers stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, plus reigning All-Star MVP, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant.

The Eastern Conference All-Stars feature Miami Heat duo LeBron James – the current regular season MVP and the 2012 NBA Finals MVP finished second in overall votes with 1,583,646 – and Dwyane Wade, Boston Celtics pair Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett. The team is completed by this season’s leading points scorer in the East, Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks.

The Eastern Conference currently leads the all-time All-Star series 36-25, but the West will be aiming for their third straight victory this season. The All-Star weekend on ESPN will begin at midnight on Friday 15^th February with the Celebrity Game, which last year saw players as varied as singer Ne-Yo and US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan taking part. The game is followed at 2am by the BBVA Rising Stars challenge – NBA legends Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will each draft a nine man roster, selecting from players in their first or second year in the NBA.

The action continues at 1.30am on Saturday 16^th February with a host of challenges on All-Star Saturday night. The Sprite Slam Dunk contest headlines the night, which will also feature the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest.

The All-Star game comes in the middle of an exciting NBA season. In the East, reigning champions the Miami Heat have once again dominated, while the best records in the league currently belong to the two teams topping the Western Conference: Oklahoma City Thunder and LA Clippers. All three teams will feature the day before the All-Star weekend begins in an NBA double header on Thursday 14^th February. First up at 1am is a rematch of the 2012 NBA Finals as Miami take on Oklahoma, then at 3:30am the Clippers face the Lakers, who have struggled this season, despite bringing in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.

Thursday 14^th February               Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder    1:00am

Thursday 14^th February               LA Clippers at LA Lakers                       3:30am

Friday 15^th February                   All-Star Celebrity Game                          12:00am

Friday 15^th February                   All-Star Rising Stars Challenge               2:00am

Saturday 16^th February               All-Star Saturday Night                          1:30am

Sunday 17^th February                 NBA All-Star Game                                1:00am