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Culture

AP Dhillon to Play in 2025 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

The Punjabi-Canadian star joins musicians like Noah Kahan and Shaboozey as well as celebrities like streamer Kai Cenat, wrestler Bayley and athletes Baron Davis and Allisha Gray.

AP Dhillon
AP Dhillon photographed for Billboard Canada's Punjabi Wave cover story
Photography team: Ishmil Waterman, Lane Dorsey, Sasha Jairam/Billboard Canada. Styling by Veronika Lipatova, Nikita Jaisinghani, Aliecia Brisette. Makeup & Hair by Franceline Graham.

The NBA has recruited a Punjabi superstar for its All-Star Celebrity Game.

AP Dhillon, the B.C.-based star of the Punjabi Wave, will suit up for Team Rice (coached by San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice) to show off his basketball skills. The selection brings a global star to a league that has increasingly international reach.


The Celebrity All-Star rosters feature a mix of athletes, entertainers and artists such as Billboard Canadian Hot 100 record-setter Shaboozey, Noah Kahan, Mickey Guyton, NFL icon Terrell Owens, Druski, streamer and recent Billboard cover star Kai Cenat, former NBA star Baron Davis, basketball trainer Chris Brinkley, WWE wrestler Bayley, actor Rome Flynn, Golden State Warriors alum Matt Barnes, WNBA players Allisha Gray and Kayla Thorton and many more.

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Retired baseball slugger Barry Bonds coaches the other team, alongside rapper 2 Chainz.

Check out the full rosters below:

Dhillon recently featured on the lovelorn acoustic Punjabi-language song "AFSOS" by popular Indian singer-songwriter Anuv Jain:

In addition to suiting up on the court, Kahan will be part of the 2025 All-Star Weekend Concert Series along with The Chainsmokers, Flo Rida and Zedd.

The 2025 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game action is set to tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Feb. 14.

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David Wiffen
Courtesy Photo

David Wiffen

FYI

Obituaries: Peers Pay Tribute to Canadian Folk Great David Wiffen

This week we also acknowledge the passing of controversial hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, U.S. guitar ace Wayne Perkins and Hamilton musician and author Douglas Carter.

David George Wiffen, an Ottawa-based folk singer-songwriter revered by his peers and best known for his classic tune "Driving Wheel," died on April 5, at age 84.

A Globe and Mail obituary reports that "Wiffen was born in 1942, in Redhill, Surrey, a market town south of London. He first arrived in Canada as a 16-year-old with his family when his father, an engineer, was transferred to Toronto. Wiffen returned to England but eventually doubled back to Canada to stay."

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