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The NBA is pulling its All-Star Game out of Charlotte,because of the league's objections to North Carolina House Bill 2, which limited anti-discrimination protections forLGBT persons in the state. The Vertical broke the news, which has been expected.
Now, the question is where the February All-Star Weekend will take place. Adrian Wojnarowski reports that New Orleans is in the lead, but ESPN's Brian WIndhorst suggests Chicago and New York/Brooklyn as possibilities. In fact, at one point the Nets were offered the right to host the 2017 game.
In 2013 when the league awarded the game to Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center, the weekend was split between the two sites, with the game itself played at the Garden and a lot of the skills competitions, like the Dunk Contest and 3-point shootout, along with the Rising Stars Game, were held at Barclays.
Under terms of the award, the Nets, Knicks and NBA had somewhat of an agreement that would have brought the All-Star Game back to New York in 2017 or 2018, with the roles reversed: the All-Star Game would be played at Barclays, the prelims at MSG.
The Nets essentially passed on the possibility because the All-Star game comes in the middle of not just the NBA season but the NHL season as well ... and the Nets at that point were preparing for the arrival of the Islanders in Brooklyn.
Now, however, the Brooklyn/New York combination presents some interesting possibilities., The workload could be divided between two managements that have recent experience in putting on the NBA's mid-season show.