LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony will be facing off against a team of Philly All-Stars at the Palestra on September 25 at 6 p.m. in what is being deemed The Battle For I-95.
Rahim Thompson, the organizer of the event, confirmed that LeBron, CP3 and KD will be joining Melo and his BaltimoreDC All-Stars. Team Philly will include Lou Williams, Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, Jason Thompson, John Salmons, Wayne Ellington and the Morris twins.
LeBron, CP3, KD and Melo at The Palestra is an event that Philly basketball fans wont want to miss. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it might possibly be the only NBA action in Philly for a while, depending how long the current lockout lasts.
Tickets will be available online starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday at PennAthletics.com. A limited number of tickets will also be available starting Saturday at 10 a.m. at select Sneaker Villa stores in the Philadelphia area.
For Penn students, an email will be sent out Tuesday with information on how they can enter a lottery to win one free ticket to the game.
For Penn men's basketball season-ticket holders, an email will also be sent out Tuesday with information on how they can enter a lottery for two complimentary tickets.
Additionally, season-ticket holders and students can purchase tickets online along with the general public starting at 3 p.m.
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Tickets will be 35 for upper level seats and 50 for lower level seats. A portion of the revenue generated by the game will go to charity, including the West Philadelphia Community Center where Warrick grew up playing basketball, and other community groups in the Philadelphia area.
My Philadelphia All-Stars look forward to getting on the court and proving to Melo and the people of BaltimoreDC that the best ballers come out of Philly, joked Hakim Warrick. Melo told me he was bringing a squad that cant be beat so I have a few all-star surprises for him when my team takes the court on September 25.
With Carmelo lining up three of the NBAs brightest stars to join him at The Palestra, will Warrick have to add to his already stellar Philly squad? Could a legend like Kobe Bryant or Allen Iverson join Team Philly? That remains to be seen. But what we know for now is that the best ballers in Philly will have their hands full with a group of future Hall of Famers.
Ryan Feldman covers college basketball and the NBA draft for his website,TheHoopsReport.com. He can be reached at rfeldman@thehoopsreport.com.