New Orleans jamboree: All-Stars, and Mardi Gras go one-on-one

Floats, marching bands and street parties are about to converge with slam dunks, 3-pointers and buzzer beaters in New Orleans.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Yes, Mardi Gras revelers and basketball fans alike will “Let the good times roll!” when New Orleans’ famous pre-Lenten Carnival meets NBA All-Star Weekend.

Bobby Hjortsberg, a local attorney and captain of the Krewe of Freret parade, said riders are excited about rolling during All-Star Weekend. In addition to the traditional colorful strings of beads, Hjortsberg expects parade krewes to shower people along the route with basketball-themed items.

Riders will also be taking longer looks at some of the taller spectators to see if they look familiar.

“We’ve got a lot of basketball fans that are part of our parade. They’re well aware of where the (NBA hotels on the route are) and that a lot of players could be around there,” Hjortsberg said. “People will definitely have their eye out for any players that might be out and about. We’ll try to get their attention and throw something to them. It might be the only opportunity we have where they’re looking for something from us.”

Mardi Gras is one reason why the NBA’s annual showcase is in New Orleans for a third time.

When the league pulled the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of a North Carolina that limits the protections of LGBT people, New Orleans hurriedly put together a bid to host. That the full weekend of events involving celebrities and the NBA elite would coincide with the first major Mardi Gras parades was pitched as more a selling point than a complication.

“We were in a good position in that we were already prepared for Mardi Gras, and already had our special event operations ongoing — to kind of plug the NBA into that,” Ryan Berni, a spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu, said.

NBA owners, officials, players and other dignitaries have been invited to parties at prime viewing areas along historic St. Charles Avenue on Friday night and will have an opportunity to experience Mardi Gras like a local, said Jay Cicero, president of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.