Frances Tiafoe to play in NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

| by Balasz Virag

On Monday, the NBA revealed that Frances Tiafoe will be participating in the 2023 All-Star Celebrity Game.

The game will take place on February 17th in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tiafoe is already the second ATP player to take part in this high-profile event, following Milos Raonic, who participated in the 2016 game.

The 25-year-old American, who is a big fan of basketball and NBA, reacted to his nomination, saying:

“It’s awesome, it’s awesome. Heard the news a little while ago but [it's] going public now, so I’ve just been trying to gear up for it and get ready. It’s an honour man, it’s an honour.”

"Tennis is posh, I want to bring some flavor" - Tiafoe on his contribution
"Tennis is posh, I want to bring some flavor" - Tiafoe on his contribution

“I still didn’t really know until I got that email, but once I got that email that ‘You’re going to All Star’ I was like, ‘This is crazy!’ I feel like it’s a big crossover. A lot of people have taken interest in me, a lot of people are following the game of tennis who usually wouldn’t because, A, the personality I bring out there on court and how I am, and being a person of colour. It’s touching a lot of people and I’m just happy.”

The American was also asked about whether he'll dunk during the match. He answered, laughing:

“Nah, I can’t dunk. I can’t dunk. I started relatively from scratch. Growing up the only thing I really played was tennis. But I started picking it up pretty good. I’ve always had an okay jumper, but [I’ve been] getting the footwork down and stuff. I’m pretty interested to see how it goes.”

“I think [I will] just go out there and have fun. I mean I don’t want to look dumb, that’s why I’ve been training the past couple weeks. But [it is about] just having fun and obviously All Star [Weekend] everyone is there, you meet so many cool people and people that I’ve been fans of forever. To see they want me there and call me a celebrity, I’m truly blessed and hopefully [it is] the first of many.”

WATCH: Loud ball explosion scares Tiafoe and whole stadium
WATCH: Loud ball explosion scares Tiafoe and whole stadium

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