Account
NBA Postpones 2021 All-Star Weekend; Indianapolis to Host in 2024
November 25, 2020
The NBA is postponing its annual All-Star Weekend this season that was scheduled to take place at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Indianapolis will now be the host site for the 2024 All-Star festivities.
An NBA spokesperson told Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files in August that the league was already resigned to the fact that it wouldn't be able to hold the 2021 All-Star festivities during their originally scheduled Feb. 12-14 timeframe:
"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. More information about next season's schedule, including NBA All-Star, will be announced at a later date."
One potential complicating factor in coordinating the NBA and city of Indianapolis' rescheduling of the game this season is the men's NCAA basketball tournament.
The NCAA is planning to hold the tournament in a single location, with the organization "in preliminary talks with the state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis" since it was already set as the host site for the Final Four.
The men's tournament is scheduled to run from March 16 to April 5.
The NBA has yet to unveil the 2020-21 regular-season schedule, but ESPN's Andrew Lopez noted the first half will be released around the time teams start reporting to training camp on Dec. 1.
Indianapolis previously hosted NBA All-Star Weekend in 1985, when the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 140-129 at the Hoosier Dome.