Jennifer Hudson is set to honor Kobe Bryant with a tribute ahead of the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
According to details from the NBA, Hudson’s performance will kick the All-Star Game off, before the players are introduced. Additional details weren’t made available, and the nature of Hudson’s tribute is seemingly being kept under wraps.
Hudson isn’t the only high-profile artist who’ll be performing at the All-Star Game. Lil Wayne, Chance the Rapper, DJ Khaled, and Quavo are scheduled to co-headline the halftime show.
Before the game, Chaka Khan (who recently appeared on The Masked Singer) will offer a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Tenille Arts will sing the Canadian national anthem.
The All-Star Game will begin at 8 PM EST (five o’clock in the west) on Sunday, February 16th.
However, the NBA also has events and activities planned for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as part of All-Star Weekend.
An episode of Inside the NBA will be filmed live in Chicago tonight; the show will feature Charles Barkley and Shaq, among others.
On Friday night, the Celebrity All-Star Game will commence after the Chicago Children’s Choir sings the pre-game national anthem.
In the celebrity competition, two teams, comprised of players including Taylor Bennett, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, Jon Batiste, Common, and Jidenna, will vie for gold under the direction of Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon. Additionally, the Rising Stars Challenge, a game for first- and second-year NBA players, will take place on the same evening (Taylor Bennett, Chance the Rapper’s brother, will handle halftime-performance duties, in what will be a very busy night).
On Saturday, Queen Latifah and a group of Chicago children will perform Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today.” The famed skills challenge, three-point contest, and slam-dunk contest will follow, with the action expected to begin at eight in the east and five in the west.
Kobe Bryant passed away on January 26th, as a result of a helicopter crash.
Besides the mentioned tributes, the Los Angeles Lakers veteran (along with his daughter Gianna, who also perished in the crash) will be honored when the All-Star Game participants wear custom-made jerseys and memorial patches.