According to a Report in the Toronto Sun, the city of Toronto, and the Raptors will host the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in 2016. The official announcement is expected sometime in the next week, but the Sun’s sources say the deal is done.
New MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke indicated in May that getting the game was a major priority for the new regime, saying, “Clearly the 2016 all-star game is a flag in the sand that we planted with the NBA. It is a must-have in my opinion and it will be the centrepiece of how we rebrand this,” and that Raptors fans, “deserve a little bit of positive news.”
Raptors fans will hope that the Raptors have a legitimate all-star, and a playoff contending team in time for the game, to put the city in the proper festive mood. A few all-stars out of the Canadian contingent of Andrew Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, and Anthony Bennett amongst others would also help add to the festivities.
It will be the first time the NBA All-Star game is played in Toronto, or in Canada for that matter. The game will be played at the Air Canada Centre, the very same arena that played host the last time Toronto hosted an All-Star game in 2000, when the NHL All-Star game came to town. The city also hosted the 1991 MLB All-Star game at what was then known as the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre).
The 2014 NBA All-Star Game will be held in New Orleans. The 2015 All-Star weekend will be split between Brooklyn and New York with the lead up events hosted at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn and the main game in Madison Square Garden, but final details are still being ironed out.
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Main Photo Credit: Secondarywaltz, via wiki commons, CC
