INDIANAPOLIS — Sports celebrities are coming to Indianapolis for NBA All-Star Weekend.
In fact, many are already here.
Some of the players visited Peyton Manning Children's Hospital for their first stop in town.
Patient Bella Drake has been through three surgeries this week. The 16-year-old needed the distraction. Former Pacers All-Star Metta Sandiford-Artest and Fred Jones stopped by to try their hand at arts and crafts.
"NBA Cares, very excited that they invited me to come join the festivities and the philanthropy," Sandiford-Artest said. "Yeah, it's great when you have a chance to work with NBA Cares, go see the children."
It was an hour of just visiting the kids, a chance to give back.
"Oh, it's everything," Jones said. "Everything that they're going through, you just want to shine a little light, you know, make them feel better."
Sandiford-Artest played for six NBA teams, but coming back to Indiana stirs up the fondest memories.
"As a kid, you dream of going to the NBA one day, and I was at my peak here, you know, and we had a chance to win a championship here, you know, so from that perspective, I'm empty, you know, I am left a little bit empty, but I live through the current team, and I live through all the accolades and everything, like All-Star Weekend, I count this as a win," Sandiford-Artest said.
The players are sharing their past and making others smile, even for just a few moments. All-Star Weekend is off to a great start, and it had nothing to do with basketball.