As part of the NBA’s effort to highlight graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities during Sunday’s All-Star festivities in Atlanta, 7-time Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight will perform the national anthem prior to the day’s main event, the All-Star Game.
Knight, 76, is a logical choice to perform it. She was born and raised in Atlanta and later graduated from Shaw University in North Carolina. Shaw is the second-oldest HBCU in the South. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Knight also has recent experience performing the national anthem at a major sporting event, as she did so at Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta in 2019 (the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3).
Grammy Award winner Alessia Cara will sing the Canadian national anthem Sunday.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. MT. Prior to that, the Skills Challenge and 3-point Contest will take place, scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. MT. The Slam Dunk contest will occur during halftime of the All-Star Game.
There will be plenty of Utah Jazz representation Sunday, as Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley will compete in the 3-point Contest, and then they and Rudy Gobert will play in the main event. Head coach Quin Snyder and his staff will lead Team LeBron, which is captained by the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James.
Gobert will play for Team LeBron, while Mitchell and Conley will play for Team Durant, captained by the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant.