Only four National Basketball Association (NBA) games have ever been played outdoors. The first outdoor game was played between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks on September 24, 1972 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico during that year's preseason. The Suns defeated the Bucks, 116–103.

The NBA has not scheduled another outdoor game after that, citing weather as a major obstacle. In 2008, the Phoenix Suns planned to play a preseason game outdoors at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. The idea reportedly came from Suns part-owner Dick Heckmann, who presented it to Suns president and CEO Rick Welts. The game was played on October 11, 2008 between the Suns and the Denver Nuggets at the tennis arena. Both teams, affected by low temperature (around 64 °F / 18 °C) and high wind (at 15 miles per hour / 24 kilometres per hour), struggled from the field as they shot below 40 percent and hit only 3 out of 27 from the three-point line. Key players including Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and Amar'e Stoudemire missed the game due to injury. In the end, the Nuggets defeated the Suns, 77–72.

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball forward with the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'9" small forward, Durant was the consensus 2007 National College Player of the Year and the 2006–2007 Big 12 Player of the Year, amongst other awards. After a standout freshman season at the University of Texas, Durant opted to enter the NBA Draft, where he was selected second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. There he went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after his debut season. In 2007, Durant signed an endorsement contract with Nike. In the 2009–10 season Durant led the NBA in scoring and became the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title. He would later be named to the 2010 All NBA First Team.