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The NBA will announce the venue for the 2015 game and weekend soon, but not this weekend, as some had thought. New Orleans has the game next year. No surprise, two of leading candidates for the honor are the Nets and Barclays Center and the Knicks and Madison Square Garden.
Mitch Lawrence reports New York’s two teams are among several to have formally submitted bids to host All-Star weekend in two years. It's been 31 years since the Nets hosted All-Star weekend and of course that was at the Meadowlands. The Knicks last hosted in 1998.
The league traditionally rewards franchises that have built new arenas. Last year, All-Star Weekend was in Orlando, home of the new Amway Center. Both the Nets and Knicks have spent enormous sums on their venues, the Nets building Barclays and the Knicks upgrading --"transforming"-- the aging Garden.
On Saturday, Lawrence updates his story to suggest that New York will have to choose between the two. It can't lobby equally for both. It's a unique situation. The NBA's other two-team city, Los Angeles, doesn't have that problem. The Lakers and Clippers both play at Staples Center. “When the Nets were over in New Jersey, that never was a problem,” one league source told Lawernce. “But now, that’s a big question.”
- Rivalry between NY Knicks and Brooklyn Nets extends to bid for 2015 All-Star Game - Mitch Lawrence - NY Daily News
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City will have to decide to lobby for either Knicks or Nets when it comes to 2015 All-Star Game - Mitch Lawrence - NY Daily News