Prince Marketing Group’s Dennis Rodman is coming to Japan to appear in STREET 2ELITE, a street basketball contest at Ariake Colosseum on Aug 19 (there’s also a game in Osaka on Aug 17) that will pit the best of Japan against the pick of the USA. He will be accompanied by another former NBA player, Tracy Murray, a three-point specialist who once scored 50 points for the Washington Wizards against the Golden State Warriors. The Japan team was decided in a championship game on July 3.

As with most events of this kind, the action will be accompanied by plenty of music with an MC and DJ, and there will be a halftime show. Rodman and Murray will both be playing for the U.S. team – along with a bunch of other American players – and Rodman will select the MVP from the Japanese side.

A spokesman for organizers Sports Biz says it’s a whole new ball game for Japan. “There have been similar tours of countries in Europe, but as far as I am aware, the mixing of former NBA players and street basketball players is a new format for an event in Japan.” The spokesman says the Japan players are sourced from the many events around the country and that street basketball is becoming popular in Japan, in part because of the dazzling dribbling and dunks, but also because of the music and other activities that are mixed with the sport.