During last night's NBA All-Star Game at MSG, President BILL CLINTON "sang along during the national anthem," singer RIHANNA "sat in the front row and posed for selfies with young fans," and Cavaliers F LEBRON JAMES caught up with Roc Nation Owner JAY Z at halftime (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/16). Fans in attendance "erupted" when Clinton was shown on the video board (NJ.com, 2/15)....Other celebrities sitting courtside included Jay Z, singer BEYONCE, rapper P. DIDDY, boxer FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR., director SPIKE LEE, and actors CHRIS TUCKER, BEN STILLER and ETHAN HAWKE (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/16)....ARIANA GRANDE's 11-minute halftime set during last night's game "wasn't a slam dunk, but more like a layup" (AP, 2/15)....Celebrities in attendance for All-Star Saturday Night at Barclays Center included Rihanna, rappers LUDACRIS and NICKI MINAJ, actress JULIANNE MOORE, actor KEVIN HART and tennis HOFer JOHN MCENROE (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/15).
DAVID IS GOLIATH? Former NBA Commissioner DAVID STERN, the league’s "longest-tenured top executive," still works as a consultant for NBA Commissioner ADAM SILVER and "approximately a dozen other companies and charges a hefty fee for speaking engagements." Stern "rents an office on the top floor of a building" in N.Y. (SACBEE.com, 2/13). Stern was present at Friday’s NBA All-Star Technology Summit at the Waldorf Astoria, and for Thursday evening's Tech Summit reception at Lavo Restaurant (THE DAILY).
NBA NAMES: Five direct-elect Basketball HOFers were announced Saturday: Former NBAer LOUIE DAMPIER, former Australian Olympic player and coach LINDSAY GAZE, late NBLer JOHN ISAACS from the Early African-American Pioneers Committee, Nike Global Basketball Dir and former college coach GEORGE RAVELING as a contributor, and former NBA coach TOM HEINSOHN, who had previously been voted in as a player (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/15)....Former NBA ref DICK BAVETTA and former NBAer KEVIN JOHNSON were also finalists. Meanwhile, NBA President of Basketball Operations ROD THORN will receive the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/15)....ESPN NBA senior writers MARC STEIN and RAMONA SHELBURNE “were recognized as first-place winners” in the ’14 PBWA Best Writing Contest at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend (ESPN.com, 2/15)....LeBron James “was spotted holding court” with his manager, LRMR Management Founder MAVERICK CARTER, at Avenue lounge in Chelsea on Friday night (NYPOST.com, 2/16).
