That could have been us: Thoughts on the NBA All-Star Game and Charlotte’s lost weekend
I love sports. I really love big sporting events. I was walking around Uptown Friday lamenting how quiet it was, how people just seemed to be going about their business without much thought to what could’ve been, what was lost.
House Bill 2 has been a stain on North Carolina. It continues to be a point of division, of mockery and, recently, an question on “Jeopardy.” But losing the 2017 NBA All-Star Game hits home to basketball junkies like me. Especially when basketball is engrained in the fabric of North Carolina. How great would it have been to see Kemba Walker play host? To have a full weekend with Charlotte’s favorite son, Stephen Curry?
Instead, that was taken away when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver relocated the game in late July to New Orleans. It was the most high profile of many events and economic opportunities that left the state. Instead of a star-studded basketball game, the Spectrum Center hosted the Winter Jam concert Sunday.
This was supposed to be Charlotte’s weekend in the spotlight, a full four days of events surrounding the game. A number of my media friends have been posting great pictures and tweets of all the fun they are having in New Orleans, despite the bad weather. Here, they would have been enjoying our great 70-degree February weather, our great restaurants, our great people.
I spent my Saturday watching the three-point and dunk contests at Social Status in Plaza Midwood, who opened up the back room for watch parties all weekend. Hoop fanatics from around the Queen City came to watch and enjoy the festivities, complete with a live DJ.
Although the dunk contest was a dud on the court, I couldn’t help but to shake my head every time they came back from commercial showing some cool aspect of New Orleans, whether it was Bourbon Street or Mardi Gras — landmarks and images that make the city what it is. I’m watching this and thinking, That should be a shot of the Bechtler, or the water fountains in Romare Bearden Park.
It should have been Charlotte hosting those invite-only parties on a rooftop deck overlooking Uptown. It should be Charlotte hosting the hush-hush, no-cell-phones-allowed Dave Chappelle party on Saturday night that everybody is talking about. Uptown Charlotte would have been perfect for this.
#DaveChappellesJukeJoint is coming to #NewOrleans! @djdnice #BandWithNoName Tix go on sale tomorrow at noon! #Nola #AllStar pic.twitter.com/n9RdHEt2it
— Frederic Yonnet (@FredYonnet) February 10, 2017
It’s a lost opportunity. But as Silver said when he was here for the Hornets court resurfacing and dedication, the NBA is committed to Charlotte. As an eternal optimist, I hope HB2 will be repealed and we’ll get another chance to host the game in 2019. But it will take a bipartisan effort.
Come on Raleigh. Get it done. Charlotte is a great city with great people. Let’s let Charlotte and North Carolina shine on the world stage in 2019.
Photos: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert; Jonathan Lee
This story was originally published February 20, 2017 at 12:17 AM with the headline "That could have been us: Thoughts on the NBA All-Star Game and Charlotte’s lost weekend."