The city of Charlotte is spending $33.5 million to upgrade the Hornets’ home arena.
Is that enough to get the Hornets their desired All-Star game?
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer:NBA commissioner Adam Silver said its inevitable Charlotte will get an All-Star Game
“Personally I’m very excited about coming back here. I don’t think there’s any question it’s going to happen,” Silver said during a visit to Charlotte Wednesday. “Just a matter of what year.”
“I met here with (Hornets president) Fred Whitfield and (team owner) Michael Jordan earlier this afternoon to discuss precisely this among other issues. It’s a matter of what’s precisely the timetable now for the renovations to the building.”
The earliest Charlotte can host is 2017. New York will host this season, and Toronto will next. The Hornets’ competition includes the Cavaliers (unless LeBron James has something to say about it) and Trail Blazers.
But Charlotte will certainly win an All-Star game, probably soon. Silver wouldn’t have put this out there otherwise.
The NBA uses a carrot-and-stick approach to convince local governments to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on NBA arenas. This is the carrot. The stick? This: