NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The NBA announced the 2016-17 schedules for the league’s teams on Thursday. The two best teams, Golden State and Cleveland, will both make appearances at Smoothie King Center.
But a series of games in February may be even more exciting for New Orleans. The Pels will play their final home game before the All Star break on February 8. The team’s next four games are all on the road.
The All Star game is set for Feb. 19, and the league has yet to announce a location since pulling the game from Charlotte.
According to reports, New Orleans is competing with Chicago and New York to host the game. Neither of those cities’ teams has a road stretch prior to Feb. 19 as long as the Pels.
Looking solely at the Pels’ schedule, the city and NBA would have 10 days to prepare Smoothie King Center — and the rest of the CBD — for the game.
Also, the published schedule for Smoothie King Center shows no other events that could conflict with the city hosting the game.
According to some reports, a decision from the league could have come as early as this week.
One source tells WGNO that part of the process involves hotels proving they have sufficient hotel rooms available for the game which will be played during the first big weekend of carnival in the city.
The right-hand man of Pelicans owner Tom Benson, team executive Dennis Lauscha, has already said that getting the 2017 game to New Orleans would do more than provide the estimated $100 million economic boost. It would also help establish the city as a basketball town and hopefully would convince more people to buy tickets to Pels games.