NEW YORK, May 22 (UPI) -- New Orleans has been chosen as the host city of the 2008 NBA All-Star game, the league announced Monday.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, in a release, said the 57th All-Star game would be played Feb. 17, 2008, at New Orleans Arena, home of the New Orleans Hornets. It would be the first time the league has had its all-star festivities in New Orleans.
The Hornets were forced by the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina to play the bulk of its home games this season in Oklahoma City.
"The award of NBA All-Star 2008 is our vote of confidence in the progress that is being made in the reopening and rebuilding of New Orleans' tourism infrastructure," Stern said. "New Orleans will become the basketball capital of the world in February 2008, and demonstrate to a global audience that New Orleans is very much open for business."
The 2007 NBA All-Star game is set for Feb. 18, 2007 in Las Vegas.
