For anyone who froze through last year’s All-Star weekend in New York and this year’s in Toronto, here’s some good news.
After heading to Charlotte next year, the All-Star game appears likely for another warm destination in 2018.
Sorry, Cleveland.
According to two people with knowledge of the situation, the NBA and Los Angeles officials have made significant progress toward finalizing a partnership for the event. The deal is not done, but the prospect of All-Star weekend returning to Los Angeles for the first time since 2010 is very strong.
Indianapolis and Miami were also known to be on the league’s short list of possible cities for 2018. Sacramento officials had hoped to land the 2018 event as a fitting reward for the expected October opening of the Kings’ Golden 1 Center in the downtown area, but have since shifted their focus to a 2019 bid.
Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com:
Sources say the league feels Brooklyn is deserving of its own All-Star Weekend in the near future since it shared the event with New York in 2015.
Toronto and New York are excellent cities.
In February, though, Los Angeles is an upgrade.