NEW YORK — The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sprint (NYSE: S) announced the official lineup of the 2012 Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24, during NBA All-Star Jam Session at the Orange County Convention Center. For the eighth straight year, ESPN will televise the game beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

This year’s players include celebrities from film, TV and music and will feature Grammy ® Award-winner Ne-Yo (R&B/pop); 2012 Grammy® nominee J. Cole (Rapper), Common (Just Wright); JB Smoove (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”); Vinny Guadagnino (“Jersey Shore”); Kevin Hart (Laugh At My Pain); Javier Colon (“The Voice”); Drew and Jonathan Scott (“Property Brothers”); Jesse Williams (“Grey’s Anatomy”); NBA Legends Mitch Richmond (six-time NBA All-Star), Penny Hardaway (four-time NBA All-Star), and Nick Anderson (NBA legend); 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings (WNBA, Indiana Fever); and Doug Gottlieb (ESPN, “The Doug Gottlieb Show”). 2012 NBA All-Stars, Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard and Oklahoma City Thunder Forward Kevin Durant will serve as the East and West team coaches, respectively.

In an All-Star Celebrity Game first, Guadagnino, who plays basketball regularly, rallied his more than 2.7 million Twitter followers who started a social media campaign to convince the NBA and Sprint to add him to the roster.

In addition to serving as the title partner of the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, Sprint will also be the title partner of the NBA All-Star Pregame Concert, held prior to the NBA All-Star Game, an associate partner of NBA All-Star Jam Session, and the presenting partner of the NBA All-Star E-Recycling event, an electronic waste collection and recycling event.

Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Feb. 14 – Oklahoma City Thunder players Kevin Durant, Lazar Hayward and Nick Collison will head out in the community Thursday afternoon.

Durant and Hayward are scheduled to visit Santa Fe South Elementary School and greet 75 students on board the Rolling Thunder Book Bus, presented by American Fidelity Assurance Company. The pair will help pick out a complimentary book for each student.

Later that afternoon, forward Nick Collison is scheduled to help provide a local family with a grocery shopping spree, courtesy of the Thunder and Homeland. The family has three children who will join in shopping with Collison. This event will be the third of four Homeland shopping sprees the Thunder will host this year.

New York and Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2012 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Special Olympics today announced the first-ever NBA Cares Special Olympics Unity Sports Basketball Game, which will take place as part of the 2012 NBA All-Star weekend festivities in Orlando. With support from The Coca-Cola Company, the game will tip off on Center Court at NBA All-Star Jam Session on Sunday, Feb. 26, and will feature 12 Special Olympics athletes from across the country, along with NBA Legends Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler and Dikembe Mutombo, current WNBA players, and celebrities. NBA stars Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and Kemba Walker will also participate in the game.

The exhibition game will combine athletes with and without intellectual disabilities as teammates to showcase the power of Special Olympics’ Unified Sports® program, which helps unite communities and foster an environment of acceptance and inclusion. In addition, as part of the NBA Cares All-Star Community Caravan, NBA/WNBA legends and players will host a clinic for local Special Olympics athletes at Jam Session immediately following the game.

“The NBA is excited to expand our longtime partnership with Special Olympics by hosting the Unity Sports basketball game as part of our NBA All-Star festivities,” said NBA Senior Vice President of Community Relations Todd Jacobson. “The NBA Cares Special Olympics Unity Sports Basketball Game is about having fun, promoting fitness and bringing people together.”

“We are proud to have this unique opportunity to show the world the incredible talents of our Special Olympics athletes, playing alongside basketball legends from the NBA and WNBA,” said Peter Wheeler, Special Olympics’ Chief Officer of Strategic Properties. “This is another great moment in our long-standing partnership with the NBA and we hope that this Unity Sports basketball game shows NBA fans the power of sports to unite us all.”

NBA Cares Special Olympics Unity Sports Basketball Game roster:

East
Marc Campbell, ON
Keyuana Davis, FL
Kerri Gilroy, MA
Rickie Kelly, WI
Andre Larry, FL
Tony Payne, TN

West
Jesse Burnett, CO
Jackie Buxton, OR
Steve Lynn, OK
Anthony Nunn, MN
Sean Vigil, UT
Jennifer Wardlow, NC

These 12 Special Olympics athletes and their families will be treated to an unforgettable NBA All-Star experience including dinner with an NBA legend, in-arena recognition at NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm, and tickets to the NBA All-Star Game.

The NBA’s global partnership with Special Olympics began more than 30 years ago when the league helped to introduce basketball as a new sport to the organization. The NBA has since provided sponsorship to Special Olympics basketball tournaments, created public service announcements featuring NBA players, and participated in major Special Olympics events. In addition, the NBA’s Basketball without Borders program has featured international clinics for Special Olympics athletes in China, Puerto Rico, Russia, France, Greece, Italy, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico.

About NBA Cares
NBA Cares is the league’s social responsibility program that builds on the NBA’s long tradition of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this umbrella program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated than $175 million to charity, completed more than 1.8 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 675 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 22 countries and territories on five continents. In addition, this year the league launched the NBA Cares Community Caravan, a year-round community and fan engagement program, through which the NBA family will reach more than 10,000 schools and community centers and touch the lives of more than 15 million fans. NBA Cares works with internationally recognized youth-serving programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes, including: KaBOOM!, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, UNICEF, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

About Special Olympics
Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives through the power of sport by encouraging and empowering people with intellectual disabilities, promoting acceptance for all, and fostering communities of understanding and respect worldwide. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to more than 3.7 million athletes in over 170 countries in all regions of the world, providing year-round sports training, athletic competition and other related programs. Special Olympics now take place every day, changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities all over the world, from community playgrounds and ball fields in every small neighborhood’s backyard to World Games. Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to realize their potential, develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy and friendship. Visit Special Olympics at www.specialolympics.org. Engage with us on: Twitter @specialolympics; fb.com/specialolympics; youtube.com/specialolympicshq, and specialolympicsblog.wordpress.com.

KD was named a starter on the 2012 Western Conference All-Star team after receiving 1,345,566 votes, second most in the Western Conference, the NBA announced today.

This will mark KD’s third career All-Star appearance and his second as a starter. During last year’s game played at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, KD was the game’s second leading scorer after recording 34 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes.

This season, KD has helped lead the Thunder to a NBA-best 17-4 record while averaging 26.6 points (3rd in the NBA), a team-high 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 37.1 minutes. Through the first six weeks of the season, Durant has recorded eight double-doubles and he became the first player in franchise history to open the season with four consecutive 30-point scoring efforts.

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game, which will air live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at Amway Center in Orlando – on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.

Today in New York City, KD was part of the launch for Nike’s new NIKE+ FuelBand product. FuelBand is an innovative wristband that tracks movement throughout the day, designed to motivate and inspire users to be more active.

The ergonomic NIKE+ FuelBand captures and displays four different metrics: time, calories, steps and NikeFuel – a new metric that will be the ultimate measure of your athletic activity. NikeFuel is a proprietary technology that measures your activity through the movement of your wrist. NikeFuel motivates athletes to do more with a NikeFuel score that makes movement fun, meaningful and comparable, letting you compete with athletes of all levels in most activities. The more you move, the more NikeFuel you earn, whether you’re playing basketball, throwing a Frisbee or going for a run.

Nike worked with some of the world’s top experts in science and sports to engineer NikeFuel algorithms based on oxygen kinetics. Unlike calorie counts — which vary based on someone’s gender and body type — NikeFuel is a normalized score that awards all participants equal scoring for the same activity regardless of their physical makeup. A user can also choose to also receive a calorie count to understand how many calories are burned versus how much NikeFuel is earned.

As part of the launch for the product, KD was featured in the NIKE+ FuelBand “Counts” spot and on hand in New York for the launch event with Nike athletes Carmelita Jeter and Lance Armstrong. KD said he’ll wear the FuelBand while practicing — and possibly during NBA games.

“I love it. I’m a competitive person. So being able to match my scores up with all my friends and fellow athletes from around the world, that’s going to be fun.”

Here’s a look at the “Counts” Spot KD is featured in as part of the launch

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (January 16, 2012) – Eight 2008 Olympic gold medalists, 10 members of the 2010 USA World Championship gold medal winning team, one national team player and one newcomer to the USA Basketball National Team were among the 20 finalists named today for the 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team by USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo. The official 12-man U.S. Olympic team roster will be announced later this year.

Named as a finalist for the 2012 USA team were: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers); Chris Bosh (Miami Heat); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); LeBron James (Miami Heat); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets). Griffin was also officially added to the USA Basketball National Team roster.

The 2012 USA coaching staff is led by Duke University’s Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, and serving as USA assistant coaches are Syracuse University’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni, and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

“The USA Basketball Men’s National Team program has come a long way as the elite list of players who are now part of our program shows. The selected finalists are a very, very talented group; the depth of the talent is extraordinary. This selection decision was as difficult of a challenge as I’ve faced since I took on the USA National Team program in 2005,” said Colangelo, who has served as the managing director of the USA Men’s National Team since 2005.

“I feel like we have an outstanding blend of talents from the 2008 Olympic and 2010 World Championship teams that won gold. Reducing to the official roster limit of 12 players will be an even tougher decision, but we’ll evaluate how guys play during the 2011-12 NBA season and as we’ve done with our teams in the past, we’ll attempt to select the very best team we can.”

“Jerry has built an extremely deep and talented USA National Team roster of 35 players and I want to thank each player for their incredible commitment to being part of USA Basketball. Reducing to 20 players was unbelievably difficult,” stated Krzyzewski, who has coached USA National Teams to a sterling 48-1 record since 2006.

“Aside from the obvious special basketball talents that all of these players possess, what struck me most about the finalists was their commitment to USA Basketball and the international basketball experience they have compiled. Among our 20 finalists, we have two players who possess 55 or more games of international experience, two with 40 or more international games under their belts and eight others who have played between 23 and 38 international games – that’s a lot of experience, which is going to be extremely valuable.

“These players have helped restore the winning tradition of USA Basketball while also gaining the respect of people around the world for the manner in which they have done it,” added Krzyzewski.

Three of the finalists are two-time Olympic medalists, including Anthony (2004 bronze and 2008 gold), James (2004 bronze and 2008 gold) and Wade (2004 bronze and 2008 gold).

Eight of the selected finalists were members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that compiled an unblemished record of 8-0 and captured gold in Beijing, including Anthony, Bosh, Bryant, Howard, James, Paul, Wade and Williams. Four finalists – Anthony, James, Odom and Wade – were part of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that earned the bronze medal.

Ten finalists were members of the 2010 USA World Championship squad that went 9-0 and captured gold in Istanbul, Turkey. Billups, Chandler, World Championship MVP Durant, Gay, Gordon, Iguodala, Love, Odom, Rose and Westbrook were all members of the USA World Championship Team.

The finalists represent 14 different NBA teams, with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers leading the way with three players each; while the New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder each have two players among the 20; and the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers each are represented by one player.

Eighteen of the finalists possess impressive international experience with Anthony leading the way with 59 games of international experience. He is followed by James (55), Williams (47), Wade (40), Howard (38), Paul (37), Bosh (32), Billups (30), Odom (28), Chandler (25), Bryant (24), Gay (23), Durant (17), Iguodala (16), Rose (16), Gordon (15), Love (15) and Westbrook (15). Aldridge, who was a member of the 2008 USA Select Team that trained against the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, and Griffin, who is the youngest finalist at 22-years-old, have not played in an international game.

The USA’s complete training schedule will be released at a later date.

Normally everyone forgets about tragedies a few weeks or months after they happen. Not so with this group.

Despite it being two full years since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake leveled the capital city of Port-au-Prince, more than 40 high profile personalities will use their Twitter and Facebook accounts this Thursday, the 12th, to rekindle interest in helping Haiti.

The lineup, which includes Maroon 5, Sting, Alicia Keys, Lady Antebellum, Hugh Jackman, Sheryl Crow, Tim McGraw, Martha Stewart, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Don Cheadle, Deepak Chopra and NBA stars Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul, has a combined total of 125 million social media followers.

“Before the earthquake, Haiti was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere,” explains Hunter Payne, producer of the campaign and President of Aid Still Required. “The last thing it needed was a disaster.”

The earthquake exacerbated ever-worsening conditions on the island. The number of orphaned and abandoned children has doubled since the quake, the incidence of rape has increased markedly, and Haiti’s floundering education system took a severe hit when schools toppled.

“On our trip there this past summer it was difficult to see much progress,” says Andrea Herz Payne, Chairman and co-founder of Aid Still Required. “At the same time we saw how eager the Haitian people are to improve their situation. There was no way we could come home and forget about them.”

Haiti was once a lush, thriving paradise. A few hundred years ago it provided France with about a third of its domestic product. But after gaining independence from France in 1804, the populace turned to subsistence farming, deforesting the countryside in the process. Today 98% of Haiti is barren, and the resultant flight to the cities has left urban areas impossibly overcrowded.

When the earthquake hit Port-Au-Prince, it destroyed hospitals, air, sea and land transport facilities, and communication systems, and left over a million survivors homeless and hundreds of thousands starving and without proper sanitation or clean drinking water. Today, the people of Haiti continue to live in a state of emergency.

“The usual pattern is for the public to contribute generously in the moment of a disaster and then forget about it,” says Hunter. “But disasters don’t heal themselves – they take time, energy and resources over a protracted arc. We hope this campaign will go a long way to engendering this kind of thinking not only about this tragedy but all others as well.”

Proceeds from the campaign are funding reforestation projects, infrastructure and teachers for orphanages, and trauma relief programs for PTSD and rape victims.

Donations – http://aidstillrequired.org/donate

Campaign Sponsor – Snoball – ‘Empowering change through social giving.’ https://snoball.com/

Contact info@AidStillRequired.org for more information.

NEW YORK, Jan. 3, 2012 – The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant and the Miami Heat’s LeBron James today were named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Sunday, Dec. 25, through Sunday, Jan. 1.

Durant helped the Thunder to a 5-0 start as well, averaging a Western Conference-best 27.4 points (second overall), while shooting .547 from the field and .500 from beyond the arc. Durant opened the 2011-12 campaign with four 30-plus-point performances. He recorded a double-double – 30 points and 11 rebounds – in a 104-102 win over the Mavericks Dec. 29.

James guided the Heat to a 5-0 record to start the season, including an opening-night victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a rematch of the 2011 Finals. James led the league in scoring (29.6 ppg), paced the conference in steals (2.40 spg), and averaged a team high in assists (6.6 apg). James scored 34 or more points on three occasions, including 37 in Miami’s 105-94 win at Dallas Dec. 25.

Here is a recap of the week for Durant and James:

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
*Dec. 25 vs. Orlando: Tallied 30 points, six assists and five rebounds in a 97-89 win over the Magic.

*Dec. 28 @ Memphis: Posted 32 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in a 98-95 road victory over the Grizzlies.

*Dec. 29 vs. Dallas: Recorded a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double in a 104-102 home win over the Mavericks.

LeBron James, Miami Heat
*Dec. 25 @ Dallas: Recorded 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a 105-94 win at Dallas.

*Dec. 28 @ Charlotte: Tallied 35 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals in a 96-95 road victory.

*Dec. 30 @ Minnesota: Recorded a 34-point, 10-assist double-double, and added eight assists and four steals in a 103-101 win at Minnesota.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Houston’s Kyle Lowry, Indiana’s Roy Hibbert, New York’s Carmelo Anthony, Minnesota’s Kevin Love, Orlando’s Dwight Howard and Phoenix’s Steve Nash.

OKLAHOMA CITY, December 6, 2011 – The Thunder’s entire 66-game 2011-12 schedule was released earlier today by the NBA. Including the Thunder’s previously announced Christmas Night game versus Orlando followed by the Thunder’s road contest on December 26 at Minnesota, the Thunder with play 18 sets of back-to-backs in addition to one back-to-back-to-back in early January.

In a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City will take-on the Dallas Mavericks four times during the 2011-12 season with two of those meetings occurring in the first eight days of the regular season.

Once again, the Thunder will play a home affair on New Year’s Eve as the Phoenix Suns travel to the Chesapeake Energy Arena on the final day of 2011. The Thunder has played on New Year’s Eve every season since moving to Oklahoma City as a part of the city’s Opening Night celebration.

The 2011-12 regular season schedule is highlighted by 24 nationally televised appearances for the Thunder. Oklahoma City will play two games on ABC this season with the first coming on April 1st when the Thunder hosts Chicago and later when the Oklahoma City travels to play the L.A. Lakers (Apr. 22) in the final week of the regular season.

The Thunder will make nine appearances on this season ESPN commencing with the Christmas Night opener (Dec. 25) and followed by a pair of road match-ups against the Dallas Mavericks (Feb. 1) and the Utah Jazz (Feb. 10). The Thunder will later host the Denver Nuggets (Feb. 19), Boston Celtics (Feb. 22), San Antonio Spurs (Mar. 16), Portland Trail Blazers (Mar. 18) and the Miami Heat (Mar. 25) on ESPN. The Thunder will round-out their ESPN telecasts on the road with a meeting against the Heat in Miami (Apr. 4).

TNT Sports will feature six Thunder games during the 2011-12 season including the Thunder’s first-week match-up versus the Dallas Mavericks (Dec. 29). The Thunder will later appear on TNT for games against Boston (Jan. 16) and Sacramento (Feb. 9) before hosting the L.A. Lakers on February 23. TNT will lastly televise the Thunder’s road contests against Orlando (Mar. 1) and the L.A. Lakers (Mar. 29).

The Thunder is also scheduled to appear on NBATV seven times this season.

Thunder fans will be treated to a pair of five-game home stands during the 2011-12 season. The first of which will occur in late February when Oklahoma City plays host to Golden State (Feb. 17), before competing in two sets of home-and-home back-to-backs vs. Denver (Feb. 19) and New Orleans (Feb. 20) followed by games vs. Boston (Feb. 22) and the L.A. Lakers (Feb. 23) just prior to the NBA All-Star break. The second five-game home stand falls shortly thereafter in early March when Dallas (Mar. 5), Phoenix (Feb. 7), Cleveland (Mar. 9), Charlotte (Mar. 10) and Houston (Mar. 13) all make stops in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder continues its tradition of family friendly scheduling this season with 17 home games that will be played on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The 2011-12 regular season will conclude with a home-and-home back-to-back on April 24 and 25 with games played versus Sacramento and Denver, respectively.

Single game tickets for the first half of the regular season go on sale Monday, December 12 at 10 am online at thunder.nba.com. Tickets for the Thunder’s preseason home game vs. Dallas will also be on sale at that time.

With very few national TV exceptions, FOX Sports Oklahoma will carry the Thunder’s regular season games. A full broadcast schedule will be released later this week. The Thunder’s TV schedule begins Tuesday, Dec. 20 with the preseason game vs. the Mavericks.

Play-by-play announcer Brian Davis, analyst Grant Long and sideline/web reporter Kelly Crull return as the Thunder broadcast team on FSO. Radio play-by play announcer Matt Pinto will bring every Thunder game to listeners on WWLS (98.1FM) and the Thunder Radio Network.

UPDATE: The Nike Zoom KD IV is now available at Nikestore.com

Launching December 3, the Nike Zoom KD IV features the new Adaptive Fit system, Hyperfuse construction and a Zoom Air unit – a versatile combination for one of basketball’s most electric players.

The Nike Zoom KD IV was built to the exact specifications of Durant, who is closely involved in the design process with Nike Basketball Footwear Design Director Leo Chang. Chang has led the design for all four of Durant’s Nike signature shoes since 2008. Incorporated for the first time in a basketball shoe, the new Adaptive Fit system provides a lock-down fit with a synthetic strap that wraps up from the inside of the upper and integrates with the laces for superior fit and lateral support.

The Hyperfuse construction on the upper is a composite of three different layers of material that are fused together using a pressing process to create a nearly seamless, one-piece upper that is lightweight, breathable and durable. Furthermore, the Nike Zoom unit in the forefoot provides lightweight, low-profile and responsive cushioning. Lastly, a low collar design provides optimal support and flexibility through the ankle and makes this a versatile shoe for multiple positions on the court.

As Kevin evolves as a basketball player so do his shoes. “First and foremost my shoe needs to be comfortable – it felt like I had been playing with them the whole season. The Adaptive Fit system is a customized feel and locks me in,” said Durant.

Designed with direct insights from Kevin Durant and his lineage, the Nike Zoom KD IV pays tribute to his team and family with details incorporated into the outsole including a lightning bolt traction pattern representing KD’s team and “Big Chucky” on the heel which pays tribute to KD’s late childhood mentor and coach. The initials “WP” in the shape of a heart on each toe represent Kevin’s parents and “Barbara” is his grandmother’s name. Personal messages as “Work Hard” and “Stay Focused” are printed also on the outsole.

The Nike Zoom KD IV is available at retailers globally beginning December 3, 2011.