NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, alongside Pacers Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) executives, Mayor Joe Hogsett, Tamika Catchings and other local leaders, shared exciting updates about NBA All-Star 2024. The event, taking place in Indianapolis February 2024, is expected to bring together the NBA’s top players and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the city.
“We thought it was time, since we are coming back to such a traditional market as Indianapolis is, and Indiana and all it means for basketball, that we were going to return to the classic format for our All-Star Game,” Silver said in a press conference overlooking the new Bicentennial Unity Plaza outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Bicentennial Unity Plaza, which opened earlier this summer, finished in time for NBA All-Star 2024. Nearly $28 million went into the construction of the Unity Plaza.
“The NBA is a global game, and NBA All-Star is unique because it allows us to put our city on display for a truly international audience,” Hogsett said. “With a projected impact of more than $320 million and tens of thousands of new visitors to the Circle City, the ripple effects of hosting this incredible event will be felt well into the future.”
The last time Indianapolis hosted an NBA All-Star weekend was Feb. 10, 1985: the day Indianapolis received its largest snowfall in 1985, recording 4.9 inches. PS&E President Rick Fuson, who was a part of the Pacers staff during the white Christmas-style weekend nearly 40 years ago, jokingly pleaded with the powers that be for the city to avoid another snowstorm All-Star Game.
WNBA Champion, Hall of Famer and Owner of Tea’s Me Cafe Tamika Catchings shared what it truly means to be an All-Star.
“The truth is, Downtown will be the home court, and you [the fans] will be the all-stars, in more ways than one,” Catchings said.
During the press conference, it was also announced that the East vs. West NBA All-Star Game format, with traditional four 12-minute quarters, will make a return in the 2024 game.
“I think Adam Silver and the All-Star Game being here would be really good for the city,” Pacers fan William Castetter said in response to the 2024 NBA All-Star updates. “I think All-Star will bring a lot of publicity. [Tourists] will get to see that Indianapolis is a really great place to be and get to experience a bit of the great things going on in the city.”
For further updates on NBA All-Star 2024, visit NBAevents.com.
Contact multi-media staff writer Noral Parham III at 317-762-7846. Follow him on Twitter @3Noral.
