2016 NBA All-Star Game to be played in Toronto

TORONTO, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was awarded Monday to Toronto, marking the first time the event will be played outside the United States.

The announcement Monday by the NBA comes after last week's statement that the 2015 All-Star Game would be in New York's Madison Square Garden and co-hosted by the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.

The 2014 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 17 in Houston. The game in New York is set for Feb. 15, 2015 and the Toronto edition would be Feb. 14, 2016 at the Air Canada Center where the Toronto Raptors play home games.

"We are thrilled that Toronto is hosting our first NBA All-Star Game outside the United States," said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. "As the site of the first game ever in the NBA, Toronto is an ideal location for this global basketball celebration."

Toronto was the site for the first NBA game when the New York Knickerbockers played the Toronto Huskies on Nov. 1, 1946. The Huskies disbanded the following summer.

The Raptors franchise was awarded to Toronto in 1995. The NBA All-Star weekend will be part of the team's 20th anniversary celebration.