Edu-hoops fans, your Feb. 15 is about to get a little more busy.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will once again be participating in the 2013 Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. ET, the league announced yesterday.
If you’re a long-time Schooled in Sports fan, you’ll know that this won’t be Duncan’s first time participating in the NBA All-Star weekend festivities.
The former Harvard basketball player strutted his stuff against teen pop megastar Justin Bieber in the 2011 All-Star Celebrity Game, dishing out a beautiful assist to the WNBA’s Tamika Catchings at one point.
Last year, Duncan returned to the All-Star Celebrity game and took center stage. The secretary did his best LeBron James impersonation by finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals (by this writer’s unofficial count), earning an honorary co-MVP nod from the game’s MVP, comedian Kevin Hart. (Hart finished with eight points and six assists on the night; he was also ejected with a minute left in the game.)
Hart will be back on the court with Duncan next week, along with Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt, rapper/actor Common, and NBA legends such as Dikembe Mutombo and Clyde Drexler. If Duncan vs. Mutombo seems like a bit of a mismatch on paper, keep in mind that Duncan played basketball professionally in Australia for four years (from 1987 to 1991) before his current stint as Secretary of Education.
The game will be televised on ESPN, for those interested in watching Duncan in a non-education setting for a night. If you can’t watch live, I’ll be live-tweeting the game via @SchooledinSport, much to my fiancée’s chagrin.
Photo: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, 26, dribbles the ball down court past musician Ne-Yo, 24, during last year’s NBA All-Star celebrity basketball game in Orlando, Fla. (Lynne Sladky/AP-File)