Goodbye to frigid New York and Toronto, and say hello to sunny Los Angeles.
The NBA All-Star Weekend is reportedly heading back to Cali two years from now; the 2017 extravaganza will take place in Charlotte.
L.A. hosted the event in 2011.
Per USA Today:
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 2011 is very strong. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because an agreement had not yet been reached.
The 2015 All-Star game took place amid record-low temperatures in New York City, while this past weekend’s affair in Toronto included the coldest day in the Canadian city since 1994. The 2017 All-Star game is scheduled to take place in Charlotte, N.C.
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.
