The Advocate’s Dawson and Scott Kushner reported August 3 the New Orleans Pelicans worked with SMG, the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau in order to secure the All-Star Game.
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Depending on its willingness, New Orleans could launch another All-Star bid in 2020, but the National Basketball Association might envision returning to Las Vegas, Houston, New York City or Orlando before then.
The NBA will hold the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The NBA is moving its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature approved the law, known as HB2, in reaction to an anti-discrimination ordinance passed by Charlotte officials in February that would have allowed transgender people to use public bathrooms that align with their gender identity, instead of their birth gender.
The City of New Orleans will host the NBA All Star Game next year as the announcement came today.
The league also announced it will make an undisclosed financial contribution and provide other unspecified support for flood victims in Louisiana, where at least 13 people have died, 30,000 people were rescued and 40,000 homes were damaged due to recent historic rainfall.
The NBA said at the time that it hoped to bring the game back to Charlotte in 2019, if the law described by many as “anti-LGBT” is changed.
Charlotte lost the 2017 All-Star Game after state legislators approved the controversial House Bill 2. “In Louisiana, one of the strongest bonds that unites all of us is our passion for sports”.
This sentiment of community and love for diversity surely played a part in the NBA’s decision to move the 2017 All-Star game to New Orleans. The fan experience can’t get any better than that.
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The 2018 All-Star Game will be played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But with the state of Louisiana now battling mass flooding, this news should provide a nice pick-me-up for the area. The NBA will be presented with similar opportunities next year to assist flooded communities within an hour’s drive of New Orleans.
