The Charlotte Hornets plan to apply to host the NBA All-Star Weekend in 2017 or 2018, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
A Tuesday press conference will be held to announce the team's official announcement. All-Star Weekend has not been in Charlotte since 1991, when the original Hornets were in Charlotte.
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In the next few years, the All-Star Game will be played in New York for 2015 and Toronto for 2016. The decisions for 2017 and 2018 will be made within the next year.
Their ability to host the All-Star Game could be contingent on stadium upgrades, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver alluded to when he visited Charlotte in March.
“It’s part of the understanding here that the building remain state of the art,” Silver said in March. “Nothing dramatic is needed. But certainly an upgrade to the scoreboard, some things with the suites and the lighting.”
Potential upgrades could cost $42 million, based on a list compiled by the Hornets and Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, the Observer reports.
“I’d love to bring the All-Star Game back here,” Silver said. “This is a wonderful community, a hotbed of basketball, not just pro but college as well.”