Kat De Luna, Keri Hilson, Take Notes: Monica turned in a soul-stirring renedition of The National Anthem (“The Star-Spangled Banner”) as the Lakers took on Celtics in Game 3 of the the NBA Finals in at the TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday night.

Usher will belt out his new track “More” during introductions of the Eastern and Western Conference All-Stars at next weekend’s big game.

Halftime will feature A. Keys — performing a medley of her hits — and pop hipshaker Shakira, who will sing two songs from her latest album She Wolf.

The game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will go on before the largest crowd ever to attend a basketball game, according to a statement from the NBA. Tip off is at 8 PM.

Kanye West is the official voice of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

In a new music video produced by NBA Entertainment, the Grammy winner’s hit single “Amazing” serves as the soundtrack to some of the most incredible performances of the NBA postseason.

Jay-Z has put himself in the middle of the Lebron James/DeShawn Stevenson beef. Hov has released a diss track, entiled “Blow The Whistle,” targeted at the Washington Wizards’ DeShawn Stevenson.

It all started right after Game One of the NBA Playoffs; Stevenson called Cleveland Cavaliers star, Lebron James, “overrated.” James responded: “With DeShawn Stevenson, it’s kind of funny. It’s almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy. It doesn’t make sense.”

In response, for Game Three Stevenson brought Soulja Boyto heckle James courtside at Washington’s MCI Center.

In preparation for Game Five, Jay-Z has jumped to the defense of friend Lebron James by tearing Deshawn Stevenson apart to the beat of Too Short’s “Blow The Whistle.”

“Ask my nigga LeBron / we so big we ain’t gotta respond / When you talking to a don / Please have respect like you talking to your mom,” Jay raps.

Deshawn has admittedly been left bothered by how far his beef with Lebron has gone, but he isn’t upset by the diss track:

“Jay-Z is a legend. He’ll go down in history. No disrespect to Jay-Z. I take it as a compliment. I like his music. I like everything he does. I would never go at a legend.”

“People think I’m going at him, but they don’t see the little stabs that he’s doing,” Stevenson says of James. “When I had Soulja Boy here. It was on the court. It was nothing disrespecting him or his family or even foul language….This is basketball. I’m not worried about the song. I’m not worried about what he did. But for Damon Jones (Cleveland Cavaliers) to get on the mic. And I heard he was saying foul stuff about me and stuff like that, they’re taking it beyond basketball to me.”

Shaquille O’Neal filed for divorce from his wife of five years ,Shaunie, on Tuesday. The Miami Heat star claims the marriage has been “irretrievably broken,” and is accusing the mother of his four children of being “secretive about her assets.” Shaq has petitioned the court for a full investigation into Shaunie’s finances. Shaq has requested that the kids live with Shaunie, and that he receive “liberal rights of visitation.”

Kobe Bryant has asked to be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. The news comes day after calling the team’s front office “a mess.” He said there was nothing the Lakers could do to change his mind.

“I would like to be traded, yeah,” Bryant told ESPN radio. “Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there’s no other alternative. It’s rough man, but I don’t see how you can rebuild that trust. I just don’t know how you can move forward in that type of situation.”

Kobe Bryant, a 1996 draft pick when he was only eighteen, helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA championships, has four years left on the seven-year, $136.4 million contract he signed July 15, 2004. That was a day after Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.

Bryant became infuriated Tuesday when a Los Angeles Times columnist quoted what he called a Lakers insider as saying it was Bryant’s insistence on getting away from O’Neal that prompted the trade to Miami.

Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer the past two seasons, said he spoke with Phil Jackson on Tuesday, and the coach told him he was being let go because the Lakers were committed to reducing payroll and rebuilding long term.

“They said nothing to me about a long-term plan — absolutely nothing,” Bryant told KLAC radio, the Lakers’ flagship station. “They told Phil one thing and they told me another. Actions speak louder than words.”

“It’s a trust thing,” he added. “They’re in a long-term plan that I had no idea about.”

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and his wife Siohvaughn, welcomed a son, Zion, in Chicago on Tuesday.

“We are really happy and everyone is healthy,” Dwyane says.

Zion was born at 8:45 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces. He was 21 inches long.

The couple are already parents to a 5-year-old son, Zaire.

The twenty-five year olds are former high school sweethearts reside in South Florida, but chose to deliver the baby in their home state of Illinois to be close to both of their families.

Singer Tamia and her NBA star husband Grant Hill are expecting their second child.

“I’m happy that the secret is out because it was getting very difficult to hide it,” says Tamia, 31, who is four months along. “I performed yesterday and I caught a glimpse of myself in a reflection and I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m going to have to talk about this.”

Grant, 34, is “thrilled” about the new family addition and daughter Myla, 5, looks forward being “the coolest big sister ever,” Tamia says.

The singer announced her pregnancy on her MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/therealtamia

The couple wed in 1999 after being introduced by singer Anita Baker while Grant led the Detroit Pistons to the NBA playoffs. He now plays for the Orlando Magic.

Tamia released her fourth studio album Between Friends in November 2006 featuring her hit single “Can’t Get Enough, ” a love song about her husband. Despite her 2003 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Tamia says she feels “fine.”

“The baby is healthy, everything is great,” says she.

Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest was arrested Monday after a woman called 911 from his home saying she had been assaulted.

Deputies arrested Artest on suspicion of domestic violence and using force or violence to prevent the woman from reporting a crime, Sacramento sheriff’s spokeswoman Dena Erwin said.

“He and the female were in the house and separated,” Erwin said. “The deputies interviewed them and took Mr. Artest into custody.”

Artest was booked into the Placer County Jail and released later on $50,000 bail.

Erwin said she could not disclose the woman’s injuries or characterize her relationship with the player. She said Artest was cooperative when deputies arrived at his home.

A Kings spokesman said the team would issue a statement about the arrest later Monday.

“We’re aware of the situation, and we’re in the process of gathering information,” spokesman Darrin May told The Associated Press.

Artest, who joined the Kings from the Indiana Pacers in January 2006, has had previous run-ins with police.

He was at the center of the infamous brawl on Nov. 19, 2004, between Pacers players and Pistons fans at The Palace in Detroit. Just when a confrontation between players seemed to be over, Artest, lying on the scorer’s table, was hit with a cup filled with an icy beverage. He bolted into the stands in a rage, followed by fist-swinging teammate Stephen Jackson. Artest and teammate Jermaine O’Neal later slugged fans on the court.

Two days later, Artest was suspended for the rest of the season — 73 games, plus the playoffs — in a move that cost him almost $5 million.

Artest and Jackson were sentenced to one year of probation and 60 hours of community service after pleading no contest to misdemeanor assault charges. In January, Artest was released from that probation.

Artest also has had trouble with local authorities.

Last month, county animal control officers seized Artest’s Great Dane, Socks, from his home in a gated community about 25 miles northeast of Sacramento. They said the animal wasn’t being fed.

County records showed the NBA star had paid nearly $2,000 in boarding and impound fees for his dogs, which had spent 77 nights at the pound since July.