Indianapolis isn’t likely to host the 2021 NBA All-Star Game at its scheduled date in mid-February because of the pandemic, the Indiana Pacers announced Monday afternoon.
The team did not say whether the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities that are scheduled for Feb. 12-14 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse will be postponed or called off altogether.
“We have been working with the NBA since 2017 to bring our fans and our city this world-class event, just as we did when we last hosted in 1985,” Rick Fuson, president and chief operating officer of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said on the organization’s website. “While it appears NBA All-Star 2021 is unlikely to happen on Presidents’ Day weekend, we are excited about continuing to collaborate with the NBA as we look to the future.”
The Pacers and Indy’s All-Star Game host committee have been planning a major slate of activities in conjunction with the annual game.
Pacers officials could not be reached for immediate comment. But both the league and the Indiana Pacers confirmed Monday that downtown Indianapolis hotel room blocks reserved for the event have been canceled.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding the schedule for the 2020-21 NBA season, we and the Indiana Pacers informed our hotel partners in Indianapolis that NBA All-Star 2021 is unlikely to take place on Presidents’ Day weekend so they could make other arrangements,” the NBA said in a written statement. “More information about next season’s schedule, including NBA All-Star, will be announced at a later date.”
The NBA tentatively plans on beginning next season in December.
The news came on the first day of the NBA playoffs at the Walt Disney World complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — where the league is attempting to finish the season without fans in the stands and in a so-called bubble where players and others are tested for coronavirus daily.
The NBA lost 14% of its regular season games this season because of the pandemic, which prompted a 4-1/2 month shutdown from March 11 through July 30.
Local officials have said the economic impact of All-Star weekend on Indianapolis could have reached $100 million.
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6 months away!
What will be different 6 months from now?
Couldn’t care less about the friggin’ NBA. Their support of Black Lives Matter turned me off a long time ago! I won’t be watching their games, buying their overpriced crappy merch, and sure won’t be going to their games! Sayonara.
Cancelling stuff for 2021 now. When will it end?
It’d be over if we actually took it seriously, as a country, when Congress & White House were briefed on it in January. But instead we’re stuck in perpetual misery.
So Robert, Trump was briefed on the 23rd and 28th of January and implemented the China Travel ban of the 31st. With the information available at that time what would you propose the President do? Honestly where was and is Congress on this issue, this is a Constitutional Republic not a dictatorship. I have seen and heard nothing from Nancy and Chuck other than criticism, but that is what we have come to expect from feckless democratic lead House of Representatives. And Fauci, OMG talk about moving the narrative and shifting like the sands in a desert. We are stuck in perpetual misinformation and propaganda. Yes it is real, yes people die, but in the State of Indiana alone, 60% of the C-19 deaths are in Long Term Care facilities, ISDH information not mine. . Lesson learned stay out of LTC facilities.
Yeah, Steve, let’s somehow try to pin it on Chuck and Nancy, even though Republicans control both the White House and Senate. Fact is, this administrations response has been a tragedy from the start.
And you are right about the misinformation… that Trump has been spewing from the very beginning.
Sports, as of now, both Pro and College are essentially done. If we the “sheeple” decide to do something about it well then maybe. Otherwise we can just keep watching the “good old days” on ESPN Classics or the Big Ten Network and see how things used to be.
Don’t touch your face!
Don’t wear a mask!
Look at Italy!
15 days to Flatten the Curve!
Look at New York!
Wear a mask!
Lock down to save others!
150 days of “15 days to flatten the curve”
.
.
Hospitals are not/never were overrun
Deaths “from Covid” are down to zilch
Deaths “with Covid” are almost down to zilch
We’ve figured out how not to kill people when we treat them…hint…don’t put them on fentanyl and a ventilator…
FDR said it best…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…
This will be gone when the left is done with it.
The NBA doesn’t want the game in Indy and is using COVID as an excuse.
I know this off-topic but the new Hilton Hotel that was planned to begin construction last year has been pushed back to late 2022 because you guessed it…COVID!
I’m sorry for sounding negative but this pandemic or the excuse of it is pretty frustrating.
It’s frustrating to everyone, but it’s not an “excuse”. Sickness and death are not fake news. This is reality slapping us all in the face. Wear masks, socially distance, and we’ll have fans at sporting events again. It’s very simple.
Coronavirus is altering the landscape of Western Civilization and no matter where you are on the politic spectrum this should be spine-chilling.
One less chance to see the NBA embarrass themselves.
Well there’s that.