The top players in the Basketball Super League (BSL) will be in Sudbury this weekend for the All-Star Game.
The city and its local team, the Sudbury Five, will host the inaugural event.
Three players from the Five and their coach visited an elementary school in Sudbury on Thursday, playing games and signing autographs. They were also promoting the upcoming All-Star Game.
“We’re really excited,” said Logan Stutz, the Five’s coach and general manager.
“It’s just a celebration of the league, celebration of the best players. It’s going to be high-level basketball, very talented players and then you’ve got the dunk contest and three-point contest, which is always entertaining.”
Twenty-two players from across the BSL will play in the inaugural game, as well as participate in both the Dunk and the Three-point competition. Four of those athletes are from the Sudbury Five: A.J. Mosby, Landon Kirkwood, Evan Harris and Duane Notice.
“Come root for your favourite players,” said Stutz, who is also one of two coaches participating in the game.
“To be considered one of the best of the best of the league is always a blessing,” A.J. Mosby said.
“I just want to thank the BSL, my teammates, coach Logan, everybody, the fans for allowing me to be a part of something like this.”
“A lot of [the players] are from different cities but we have four of our own players from The Five staying this weekend,” said Landon Kirkwood.
“The other players -- they’re talented… just the best of the best the league has to offer.”
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According to Stutz, the league chose Sudbury to host the first-ever All-Star game because of the local fan base.
“They love our atmosphere, they love our fans, they love that our marketing team and our company is able to put on a great show, so they wanted to give it to the team that puts on the best. That’s us,” Stutz said.
“It’s kind of an honour that we have it.”
“We’ve been playing so hard for the last two-and-a-half months, so to get this ‘break,’ it’s going to be fun just to see the fans come out — the best fans in all of the league,” Mosby said.
The Skills competition starts just after 6 p.m. Saturday night, with the tip-off for the All-Star Game at 7 p.m., at the Sudbury Communty Arena.
