Oklahoma City `not anywhere near' hosting All-Star Game
T rae Young was asked Saturday if he'd like to see the NBA All-Star game in Oklahoma City some day.
"It'd be super fun to get an All-Star game out in OKC," the Hawks guard and former Sooner said. "Being able to go back home and play in front of them would be fun. I think they gotta get maybe one or two more hotels to be able to get it going."
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt tweeted that Young was "spot-on."
"I get this question from time to time," Holt tweeted. "NBA requires 6,000 rooms near the arena and wants them to be four-star. Even with (the) Omni we're just not anywhere near that."
The Omni hotel is set to open in early 2021. It's being built next to Scissortail Park and the new convention center.
Holt shared a 2018 story from the Sacramento Bee after Sacramento's failed bid to host the 2022 All-Star game. To overcome the city's hotel room shortage, Sacramento's proposal included docking cruise ships at the Port of Sacramento.
Thunder guard Sh ai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked to make a pitch for Oklahoma City to host the All-Star game.
"I think the fan base is amazing," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Best fans I've been around in a long time. They're loyal and they love basketball."
Chicago is hosting All-Star weekend for the first time since 1988. Indianapolis, Cleveland and Salt Lake City will be the next three cities to host AllStar weekend.
Oklahoma City, Memphis, Portland and Sacramento are the current NBA markets that haven't hosted an All-Star game.
Silver turns to Paul
NBA commissioner Adam Silver consulted Chris Paul in the hours after Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash, Silver said Saturday.
There were eight games scheduled on Sunday, Jan. 26 — the day of the crash.
Silver talked with Paul, president of the Players
Association, about whether the Sunday games should be canceled.
“We both agreed that, if anything, (there was) a sense that the people wanted to come together and be with each other,” Silver said.
The Lakers' home game against the Clippers that Tuesday was postponed. All other games were played as scheduled.
Paul was not with the Thunder when it played the Mavericks the day after Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others were killed in the crash in Calabasas, California.
It was the only game Paul has missed this season.