Fans react to abysmal entertainment at NBA All-Star match

FORMER Black Eyed Peas star Fergie delivered a horror show of laughable proportions at the NBA All-Star game.

STOP, it’s already dead!

Unfortunately, nobody had the guts to tell that to Fergie as she sung — well, tried to sing — the American national anthem before the start of the NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles.

Hopefully the former Black Eyed Peas icon isn’t planning on releasing another solo album anytime soon because after the hatchet job she dished up on the west coast we hardly think her CDs will be flying off the shelves — or off the iTunes charts.

Fergie butchered her rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner as everyone watching — and listening — cringed in unison. What we think was supposed to be her sultry, seductive interpretation of the number was more sinful than sexy. It was more likely to send you running from the TV than running into bed.

Even the players couldn’t hold back the laughter — Draymond Green’s reaction summed it up best.

Oh, and Steph Curry liked a tweet paying Fergie out when he was on the pine during the match.

CHECK OUT FERGIE’S RENDITION IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

Draymond Green cracking up during Fergie’s national anthem 😭 pic.twitter.com/lPRTh7bmEy

— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) February 19, 2018

Literally dying at these reactions. Fergie with the worst rendition ever. Embiid 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/ociAsWf0LC

— Isaac Harris (@IsaacLHarris) February 19, 2018

Interesting rendition there by fergie. Think draymond summed it up pretty well

— Dane Swan (@swandane) February 19, 2018

Steph Curry doesn’t appear to have enjoyed Fergie’s rendition of the anthem either... 😂 #NBAAllStar2018 pic.twitter.com/vUepApB9Po

— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) February 19, 2018

The marathon rendition went for more than two minutes and apart from leaving those at the Staples Centre with bleeding ears, it added another embarrassing asterisk to the pre-match entertainment which already had fans scratching their heads as actor Kevin Hart led a bizarre skit that also featured Adam DeVine, Queen Latifah, Rob Riggle and Ludacris.

Hart — fresh from his humiliating drunken escapades at the Super Bowl earlier this month — had a chance to restore some credibility. He swung, but he missed — by a long way.

Many thought it couldn’t get worse than that, but once Fergie grabbed the microphone they realised just how wrong they were.

Kevin Hart: “I just engineered the biggest pre-game disaster in television history.”
Fergie: “Hold my beer.”

— Tim Ring (@timringTV) February 19, 2018

Fergie is singing quite possibly the worst sounding rendition of the National Anthem that I've ever heard in a big game setting. Awful. #NBAAllStar2018

— Evan Massey (@massey_evan) February 19, 2018

Fergie with the absolute worst rendition of the national anthem that I have ever heard in my entire life. No exaggeration. That was awful.

— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) February 19, 2018

.@StephenCurry30 singing along to Oh Canada but looking disgusted during Fergie’s rendition of our own national anthem is peak 2018.

— megan mcmahon (@meganmcface) February 19, 2018

Oh. No. Fergie. No. #NBAAllStar2018 pic.twitter.com/3KlB6z7lOG

— Candace Mitchell (@CandaceBright) February 19, 2018

Fergie is the worst thing to happen to All-Star since Kevin Hart.

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) February 19, 2018

One of the all time worst star spangled banner performances from Fergie. Awful. #NBAAllStar

— Nicky Football (@ESPN580Nick) February 19, 2018

Speechless. Without speech. #NBAAllStar2018 national anthem.

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) February 19, 2018

American website Deadspin was the voice of the people.

“Even in the context of the NBA’s disastrous, shriekingly awkward pre-game nightmare, Fergie’s national anthem was an absolute abomination,” Chris Thompson wrote.

“A goose being strangled in your living room would produce a much more pleasant series of noises.”

For The Win also joined in to mock the pop star.

“Everything about the NBA All-Star Game pre-game show was laughably bad,” Andrew Joseph wrote. “But nothing — really, nothing — topped Fergie’s rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.”

LeBron James picked a winner in the NBA All-Star Game. James scored 29 points and hit the go-ahead layup with 34.5 seconds to play, winning his third All-Star Game MVP award while his hand-picked team rallied to win an uncommonly-entertaining showcase, beating Team Stephen 148-145.

For the first time in the 67 editions of the All-Star Game, the league abandoned the traditional East-West format used since 1951 and allowed team captains James and Stephen Curry to choose their own rosters.

That twist turned a sometimes staid event into the world’s richest pick-up game, and the intrigue was reflected on the Staples Centre court, where a real basketball game broke out.

LeBron’s team even won an All-Star game with defence — on the final possession, James and Kevin Durant blanketed Curry, preventing the three-point-shooting superstar from getting off a potential tying shot.

“I think myself and Stephen took it upon ourselves when we took on this format that we had to change the way this game was played,” said James, who also had 10 rebounds and eight assists.

— with AP