The 35-year-old had opened his remarks with a tribute to his adopted hometown and notice of his “retirement” from the game which marks the unofficial start of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend.
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Edwin “Win” Butler, lead singer of Arcade Fire, performs on the Pyramid main stage at Glastonbury music festival, England, Friday, June 27, 2014.
That led Hart to turn over the US coaching duties to All-Star player Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons in the third quarter, change into a uniform and insert himself into the game in an ultimately futile attempt to lead a comeback.
Sage Steele: You know Kevin Hart has said he’s retired for 10 years and he keeps coming back so I feel like they’d welcome you back.
ESPN reporter Sage Steele quickly intervened, “We’re talking about celebrity stuff, not politics”. “Congratulations on the MVP”. But still, fans were less than impressed with the not-so-subtle commercial throw.
The frontman of Arcade Fire, a band that hails from Canada, was named the Celebrity Game MVP in Toronto on Friday night, racking up 15 points and 14 rebounds for team Drake in a game some people actually watched. But his resigned expression at being cut off earned our sympathy for what he said will be his last celebrity game. I just want to say that I’m retiring as a celebrity right now, so I will not be eligible for the celebrity game next year. I’m retiring as a celebrity, so I brought this home for Canada.
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The final score was at 74-64 as Team USA couldn’t beat Canada even with the return of Hart from retirement after halftime.
