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Comedian Kevin Hart and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith are among those who think celebrity Knicks superfan Spike Lee should get a championship ring after the franchise won its first title in 53 years. Hart shouted out Lee in an Instagram video posted on Sunday. “Give Spike a ring,” Hart said of Lee, who has likely paid many millions for tickets over the last 40 years. “Spike deserves a f–kin championship ring, and I’m saying it here. Give Spike a New York Knicks championship ring.”
Shane Gillis to Draymond Green during the Kevin Hart roasting: “Draymond Green is the first player to make four All-Star teams for just setting picks.”
'Roastmaster General' Jeff Ross at Kevin Hart's special: “Steph Curry couldn’t make it tonight, but he did carry Draymond Green all the way here. Love you buddy, I'm not gonna make fun of you because you're violent. You've been ejected more times than a Kevin Hart DVD.”
Tom Brady to Draymond Green at the roasting of Kevin Hart on Netflix: “Draymond Green is here. Draymond’s here, for now. He’ll probably get thrown out in the next 10 minutes.”
Kevin Hart: I need your Top 5 of all time. Victor Wembanyama: That’s hard to say, I can give you a starting five. Hart: OK give me a starting five. Wembanyama: Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal.
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Kevin Hart: How would you match up against a player like Shaquille O’Neal today? Victor Wembanyama: One on one? Hart: Be honest. Wembanyama: Nobody guards star players one on one. Shaq, I don’t know if he has ever been guarded one on one in his career, neither have I. Shaq is one of my favorite players and also one of least favorite journalists.
Kevin Hart: I’m aware that you are a huge Kevin Durant fan. Is that true? Victor Wembanyama: That’s right. Hart: Did you try to model your game after KD? Wembanyama: I wouldn’t say model, but definitely got inspired.
By the time a head-shaven Victor Wembanyama derobed to hop in an “ice bath” and cut it up with comedian Kevin Hart on stage at Fanatics Fest in June, the basketball card market for the San Antonio Spurs star had already started to rebound after his injury scare a couple of months before. Wembanyama’s 2023 Panini Prizm Silver rookie card, a more limited and shinier version of his base rookie card, with a Gem-Mint 10 grade from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) sold for as high as $950 in early February according to Market Movers — an online card sales monitor. Granted, that’s nowhere near the $2,500 price tag examples of this card fetched in March 2024 when Wemby hype was at its peak, but the near $1,000 price displayed growing confidence in the long-term value of his cards.
With the trade deadline and “All-Star Weekend starring Kevin Hart” now in the rearview mirror, the NBA picture has come more into focus. The haves and the have-not-enoughs are clear. One league exec was on the line Tuesday to note his early call was still valid. “There’s no way you can look at the league now and say that Boston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City aren’t on a different level. I told you that almost two months ago,” he said. “The only way anything changes by the end of the season is injuries, but you’ve got to be looking at three of the four conference finals teams here. Those guys have separated themselves.”
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The NBA All-Star Game has come and gone, with another milestone marking the end of Turner Sports’ 40-year domestic partnership with the league. Its new format, with a four-team tournament, had some positives in the sense that player effort was clearly elevated over the last several years—a low bar to clear, to be sure—but it was marred by endless play stoppages for commercials, Kevin Hart, and Mr. Beast. At one point, Hart eulogized an Inside the NBA that is very much not dead, but rather migrating to ESPN next season while still being produced by TNT. Sources who were in the Bay Area this weekend—in hotel lobbies and at cocktail parties and sponsorship events—say several changes for the weekend are being discussed for next year even before Sunday’s game tipped off.
Players expressed satisfaction with the action on the floor, but pointed out Sunday's tournament featured too many stoppages, as comedian Kevin Hart entertained the crowd at Chase Center with commentary and banter that halted play. "To be honest, I didn't like it at all," said Trae Young, a member of Chuck's Global Stars. "I didn't like the breaks. The games were so short. Obviously, we can score. So, they're trying to, I feel like, trying to extend the game, extend the TV time with the breaks and things like that."
