The Boston Celtics want Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to represent the organization as All-Stars as many times as possible, but it’d be even sweeter if the midseason event was held at TD Garden.
After a trip to Indianapolis where Brown participated in the Slam Dunk contest and then combined with Tatum to score 56 points in a record-setting win from the Eastern Conference, the Celtics revisited the topic of bidding to make Boston an upcoming host.
“We’ve had those conversations with both the NBA and the city of Boston and a lot of different constituencies, including TD Garden and Meet Boston,” Celtics president Rich Gotham told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “We’ve had some preliminary conversations and there’s enthusiasm from all the parties to bring the game to Boston. We’re working at it.”
The city hasn’t hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 67 years, meaning most Celtics fans didn’t even live to see Bill Russell, Sam Jones and Tommy Heinsohn team up to lead the Eastern Conference to victory. With Tatum and Brown both in their respective primes and poised to be the organization’s co-star tandem for years, there isn’t much time left on the clock. It’d be a no-brainer to see the two have a chance at winning All-Star MVP under the team’s 17 championship banners, but it’s still a tough mountain to climb.
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Even the Red Sox have targeted an upcoming MLB All-Star Game, which team president Sam Kennedy chimed in on last October. Fenway Park hasn’t been the home of the midsummer classic since 1999 when now-retired pitcher Pedro Martinez took the mound as the American League’s starter.
Regardless of how due Boston is to bringing the league’s brightest stars together, the Celtics aren’t the only team clawing for hosting rights. There dozens of intricacies that commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA would consider before giving Boston the green light make it hard to envision Gotham’s hopes coming to life anytime soon. There’s the obvious need for hotel accommodations for players and coaches, a convention center among much more to help the three-day event run smoothly for everyone involved.
“We’re comfortable talking about the opportunity,” Gotham added, per Washburn. “It’s very early in the process. Hopeful is the right word, between the Celtics and the NBA and the other parties that would need to be critical to it, there’s an optimism about it, for sure.”
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The Golden State Warriors will host the 74th annual NBA All-Star Game next year at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Featured image via Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
