February 17 will mark the 2019 NBA All-Star Game, set to be played at the Spectrum Center—the home of the Charlotte Hornets. The arena originally opened in 2005 but has not hosted an All-Star Game prior to the upcoming contest.
In a sense, the venue fits into the trend of where NBA All-Star Games will be played between now and 2022. Over that period, the league will stage the All-Star Game in facilities that have been part of its landscape for decades but have little to no experience hosting the marquee event.
For a fuller look, here is a rundown of NBA All-Star Game arenas from 2019-2022.
2019: Spectrum Center, Charlotte Hornets
The All-Star Game arrives in Charlotte more than two years after the 2017 contest was revoked and moved to New Orleans amidst concerns over North Carolina’s passing of House Bill 2, legislation that was criticized by many as being discriminatory toward the LBGTQ community. Following a partial repeal of the law in the spring of 2017, the NBA awarded the 2019 contest to Charlotte. The game will be the first held in the city since Charlotte Coliseum hosted it in 1991. To celebrate the occasion, the Hornets are planning a weekend slate of events that includes the slam dunk contest on Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday.
2020: United Center, Chicago Bulls
Chicago itself has experience with the NBA All-Star Game but has not added to that history since 1988—the last of two times that it was staged at Chicago Stadium, which United Center succeeded as home of the Bulls in 1994. The first NBA All-Star Game at United Center will take place on February 16, 2020, part of a weekend-long series of festivities that will feature select events at Wintrust Arena—the home of DePaul basketball and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. This will be Chicago’s third All-Star Game overall.
2021: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indiana Pacers
Bankers Life Fieldhouse originally opened in 1999 but has not hosted an All-Star Game previously. Notably, this will be the first time that an All-Star Game takes place in an Indianapolis NBA arena. The Hoosier Dome (later RCA Dome) hosted Indianapolis’ only prior NBA All-Star Game in 1985, but it was primarily the home of the NFL’s Colts. At that time, the Pacers were playing at Market Square Arena, but the Hoosier Dome was able to accommodate the All-Star crowd of 43,146.
2022: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers had made their intentions to land an All-Star Game known in recent years, part of the club’s pitch for a multi-phase renovation of Quicken Loans Arena. Renovation work is slated to continue leading up to the 2019-20 season, meaning that the results should be easily realized by the time NBA All-Star Game arrives in 2022. That will mark Cleveland’s second All-Star Game, both of which would have been played at the downtown arena. The first All-Star Game there was played in 1997, marking a fairly quick arrival to the then-Gund Arena after its 1994 opening.
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