words_Nick Engvall

To kick off the World Basketball Festival, some of the top NBA players participated in the USA Basketball Showcase game at Radio City Music Hall in New York City Thursday evening. Team USA was split into two squads: Blue and White. The Blue team consisted of Stephen Curry, Tyson Chandler, Jeff Green, Andre Iguodala, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant, while the White team was made up of Eric Gordon, Danny Granger, Russell Westbrook, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Love, Lamar Odom, Javale McGee and Rudy Gay. The game consisted of two 12-minute halfs during which both teams battled to a 47-47 tie at the end of regulation. Overtime was sudden death; first team to score wins. The game ended with an alley oop lob to Tyson Chandler, who threw it down for a 49-47 victory. When it was all said and done, Andre Iguodala made the most of being on the big stage at Radio City Music Hall, taking home the MVP of the game with some electrifying dunks.

The event was hosted by Anthony Anderson and Kevin Frazier and had a bunch of other activities going on, including dancers, a band and a dance-off by some crowd members.

Oh, and some of the spectators included LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and freshly signed New York Knick Amar’e Stoudemire.

Check back for more on the Eastbay Blog as the World Basketball Festival and the events continue.