How Kick The Concrete Dunked on NBA All-Star 2026 in Los Angeles
- Victoria Hernandez
- Feb 22
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 27
NBA All-Star Weekend is known for bringing brands, players, musicians and artists together to celebrate the culture of the sport. The festivities this year were in Los Angeles and it was not hard to embrace all the elements of basketball. There was seemingly an activation around every corner of the city from Little Tokyo to Santa Monica.
I had a great time repping Kick The Concrete as I wandered the City of Angels engaging with brands, meeting fashion icons, and even catching the performance of one of my very favorite artists.
Here's Kick The Concrete's coverage of NBA All-Star 2026 in Los Angeles:
McDonald's Chef's Remix Showdown
My NBA All-Star festivities tipped off on Thursday night at the McDonald's Chef's Remix Showdown. First off, free parking?! In Hollywood? Yes. General admission was also free. It was clear Mickey D's had a big budget.
My friend and I went through security and then walked into a large warehouse with a bar on one end and a stage on the other. There were four celebrity chefs competing. Chef Eric Adjepong, who proudly represents his Ghanaian heritage, was billed as Team World against Chef Nana Araba Wilmot, who competed on "Top Chef," and was listed as the Rising Star. Then, Chef Tristen Epps, who hails from Houston, repped for the West and took on Chef Trenita Coleman, who is Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum's private chef and was putting on for the East. Each contestant was tasked to do a play on the McStrips and had to include Hot Honey in their creation.
The judges sat on a stage in the middle of the floor, which made the event interactive for fans. They tasted each dish and conferred about which chef won each round. Fans also got to try the dishes. I got a sample of Chef Nana's creation, which included a delicious plantain waffle. There were music performances in between rounds. We saw H3adband, who gave lots of energy.
Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete
The host of the night, Ms. Basketball, was great and kept the crowd engaged while asking the chefs thoughtful questions. Chef Tristen shared how he started his career at McDonald's and this was a full-circle moment for him. His dish celebrated Black History Month and was a play on hoe cakes that slaves used to make from simple ingredients.
Outside, there was a custom jersey booth and lots of backdrops for photo opportunities as well as a claw machine where fans could win socks and a yellow bucket hat.
It was a great way to start off the weekend.
Swipe to see scenes from the McDonald's Chef Remix Showdown ->
NBA Crossover
On Friday, I stopped by NBA Crossover, the fan fest that celebrates basketball culture via brand activations, player appearances and concerts. The event was located at the Los Angeles Convention Center just down the street from the Staples Center (or Crypto.com Arena if you want to be technical). So the area was poppin' (more on that later).
I was excited to see a billboard for the new Cadillac F1 team! If you remember, they revealed their livery during a Super Bowl LX commercial. They are doing a great job building hype ahead of their debut in the 2026 F1 season.
Walking into the NBA Crossover, you are greeted by a sort of Hollywood Walk of Fame setup with the names of All-Stars on the floor. The black and white art throughout the space was done by Joshua Vides and it was really cool. The different zones were named for different locations in Los Angeles, including Santa Monica, Hollywood and Inglewood. That was a nice touch.
AT&T had a cool blue lounge. CeraVe was giving out free haircuts and had a goat mascot running around. Harry The Hawk, the Atlanta Hawks mascot, was also having fun scaring kids. Jaime Jaquez Jr. was hanging out at the Kendall-Jackson pop-up spinning a basketball and doing some promotional spots.
I had to pop into the gallery with several NBA trophies, including the NBA Cup, the Bill Russell Finals MVP award, the Michael Jordan Trophy for the regular season MVP and the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Kids Foot Locker had a court for the little ones to shoot around and brought back the Nike x Lego collab. The Galaxy dunks were originally released in certain markets in October and there were still enough in the warehouse to bring them back just for All-Star Weekend. The holographic Nike x Lego logo is super cool.
There were a few three-point contests, which fans were having fun with. State Farm sponsored one and Ruffles offered another opportunity to shoot from behind the arc. The host at the Ruffles pop-up had a fantastic fit featuring a glittery blue hat, white track jacket and thigh-high boots. She was giving excellent energy.
There was also an NBA Shop on the premises. The NBA went hard with their merch and did collabs with 2Pac, Jeff Hamilton and Round21. Pro Standard impressed us again with all of their gear, including a leather moto jacket similar to one we were obsessed with at the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl one might have been a little stronger because the back was BEADED. Fear of God x Essentials also did a collab with the NBA. Their pop-up was serene in front and chaos in the back because everyone wants a piece of what Jerry Lorenzo is building.
Google had my favorite activation at NBA Crossover. They had a large walled space with different fun facts about basketball, like why Steph Curry's 2015-16 season was so special and why the ball is referred to as "the rock." Fans could get a prize by downloading the Google app and asking any basketball-related question using its artificial intelligence feature. I asked where Kemba Walker ranks all-time as a point guard and I got... a rock. *Charlie Brown voice.
Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete
Rising Stars Game
After taking in NBA Crossover, I made my way down to Inglewood for the Rising Stars Game at Intuit Dome, where all the official NBA All-Star activities were taking place. I was also excited to see Chika Takai, the Atlanta Hawks deejay, do her thing. I interviewed her when I was at USA TODAY for a story about women deejays in the NBA. She is such a light and brings the party everywhere she goes!
I arrived super late and it took forever to get into the arena. Fans have to download the Intuit Dome/Los Angeles Clippers app, transfer their tickets, take a photo for Face ID, give a drop of blood... okay I'm being dramatic but still...
Anyways, once inside, Intuit Dome is a magical world of flashing lights and a steep view. Steve Ballmer bragged a lot about the bathrooms in his venue, and there are quite a few of them. They're clean and modern.
I honestly was overstimulated by the whole experience, but I'm sure this is the hype that everyone is going toward.
There are also a decent amount of places to get merch at Intuit Dome. I was happy to see a collab with Ryoko Rain that we didn't see at NBA Crossover. And we got a better view of the Fear of God x Essentials T-shirt.
VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers was the Rising Stars MVP and the crowd chanted "M-V-P." Chika Takai ended the night playing some Sabrina Carpenter, which is always a good time.
Before heading out, I stopped by the NBA All-Star Art Garden in the arena's courtyard. I specifically wanted to see Cierra Boyd's incredible statue called "Between the Bounces" that she made out of sneaker scraps. She's the designer and owner of FRISKMEGOOD and created the viral sneaker corset that Sha'Carri Richardson wore to a USA Basketball game at the 2024 Olympics. Her work is fascinating.
Jayson Tatum and Jae Tips at New Era Pop-up in Foot Locker Takeover
On Saturday, I started my adventure by running by the Foot Locker Takeover. It sprawled across L.A. Live, also next to Staples Center, and was a free event for fans. There were player appearances, sneaker drops and musical performances.
I was just in time to see Jayson Tatum and his son, Deuce, at the New Era pop-up. Fans of all ages were lined up to get a glimpse of the Celtics superstar. He did some promotional work for the brand and then sat with Jadakiss and designer Jae Tips for a panel conversation about the importance of caps (since it was the New Era activation), and giving back.
Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete
Complex Market
This was one of my favorite parts of NBA All-Star Weekend. Complex Market was a free event and was kind of a mini ComplexCon. There were vendors around a large lot featuring Bricks and Wood, Jeff Hamilton and Playa Society. Don C hosted the event and he was standing at his Just Don booth just chillin. A LEGEND.
My friend and I also enjoyed the Jeff Hamilton booth. His jackets are pure art. Matt Caputo, who owns one of the largest Jordan collections in the United States, was there dropping knowledge. It was really nice chatting with him.
There was also a basketball court in the center sponsored by Chase. We stopped by to see some of the action and saw that DJ MaL-Ski was spinning! He's friends with Propaganda and a bunch of homies, so I had to say hi. He's done the music for the CFP National Championship, Los Angeles Sparks, Arizona Cardinals, USC and so much more. It's so inspiring to see what he's done with his faith and talent.
Overall, lots of creative energy and positivity and inspiration. Complex really knows how to put on events for the culture.
Vince Staples at Foot Locker Takeover
We made our way back to the Foot Locker Takeover honestly because I heard Vince Staples was performing and if that was the only thing I saw the entire weekend, I'd be happy. We got there in plenty of time to check out the rest of the space since I ran straight to the Jayson Tatum appearance the first time.
Anthony Edwards' AntLand with adidas made a lot of noise over the weekend and it was a cool setup. The Puma installation was playful with a tricked out Toyota. Nike went hard across the whole city and here had a lane with huge statues of each player logo on its roster. Seeing Kobe Bryant's Mamba shield on the end was special.
Then we made it to the Nike tent on top of the parking garage. My friend, Andrea Aguilar, who is a hip-hop encyclopedia (follow her on TikTok), informed me that this is also where Tyler, The Creator held his first runway show for Golf Wang in 2016. The top floor was taken over by a large tent covered in LED screens. One of the rotating scenes was a Jordan Brand ad that said, "Greatness is Never Satisfied" in black against bright red.
Once inside, there were pop-ups for all the brands under the Nike umbrella. There were photo opps galore. Fans could check out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Converse SHAI 001 in its various colors and hop into a photo booth. They could also have their picture taken with a black and red Koenigsegg Regera (only 1 of 80 in the world) as part of the Luka Dončić x Jordan Brand pop-up. That activation was very popular.
Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete
We wandered around doing all of the photo opps. There was a basketball court in the back half of the tent where a game was being played and where Vince Staples was going to perform. At around 8:15, the beat to"Big Fish" reverberated in the tent and I ran over. The Long Beach artist performed in front of a crowd of maybe 100 people. One girl held up a sign that said, "Be My Valentine Vince." He ran through "Magic," "Lemonade" and"Little Homies" before finishing on his hit "Norf Norf." It was delightful and everything I hoped it would be.
Jordan Brand x Shoe Palace Jordan VI Infrared "Salesman" Takeover
On Sunday, while USA Stars took home the All-Star Championship over USA Stripes and Team World back at Intuit Dome, I took some time to soak in the last of the activations around the city.
I happened upon Shoe Palace in Little Tokyo, which was transformed into a sea of red by Jordan Brand to celebrate the launch of the Jordan VI Infrared "Salesman." The store was covered in signage celebrating the women of sneaker culture. There was a bandana customization station, an infrared photo opp and a classic Porsche.
Credit: Victoria Hernandez/Kick The Concrete
New Balance Street Ball Activation
I ended my festivities by checking out New Balance's activation at Lafayette Park. They went more the street ball route and had two branded courts, a deejay booth and some food trucks. In comparison to the other high-budget events around the city, this one didn't quite scream "All-Star." But it felt very community-based and there were people of all ages, kids, OGs. The MCs were hilarious, too.
Well, there you have it! Kick The Concrete went back-to-back (no, I'm not quoting Drake, I promise) from the Super Bowl LX festivities in San Francisco to all the excitement around NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. It was quite an eventful trip that I will remember forever!
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