TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins, has hosted all sorts of events since its opening in 1995.
But the NBA All-Star Game has never been played inside the venue, something Celtics co-owner and governor Wyc Grousbeck looks to change.
Grousbeck expressed his desire for the Celtics to host the monumental weekend of events and bring the NBA All-Star Game back to Boston for the first time since 1964 when he appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz” show on Tuesday.
“We would love to have it and we’ve talked about it,” Grousbeck said. “The willingness of the city and the convention center and, of course, our partners at the Garden, and everything, it all has to come together. But we talked to everybody and sort of said, ‘We’d really love to do this.’ I think there’s good momentum for trying to get it done.”
Grousbeck also explained there are many moving parts when putting on a large-scale event like NBA All-Star weekend.
“It’s not done. It has to be planned out. You have to block out all sorts of space and hotels and make sure everybody else is comfortable,” Grousbeck said. “It’s not something that we can just host in our practice facility, obviously. We got a bunch of partners looking at it, and we’re talking to the NBA and the vibes are good.”
If the Celtics are to host the All-Star Game, the earliest it could come to Boston is 2025. Salt Lake City and Indianapolis are already scheduled to hold the event for 2023 and 2024, respectively.
But having the game and all the other festivities in Boston seems to have the backing of the league office. Earlier this month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver “encouraged” the Celtics ownership group to submit a bid, something they reportedly have worked on.
Hosting a premier event at the homes of Boston’s professional sports has occurred before, and it was recently announced Gillette Stadium will be one of the backdrops for World Cup soccer games in 2026.
After having all eyes of the basketball world on Boston for the NBA Finals, the Celtics look to keep it that way in the future if they can get the All-Star Game to come to the city.
