The Miami Heat haven’t hosted the NBA’s All-Star Weekend since 1990. Could American Airlines Arena’s first swing at the massive event be soon?
The Miami Heat haven’t hosted an All-Star game since the year of 1990. Three decades later, they still haven’t hosted another yet.
Heck and for that matter, their current arena in the American Airlines Arena has never hosted one (the Heat played in Miami Arena until 2000). Well, things might be looking up for the Miami Heat, the city of Miami, and the wonderful building in which they call home.
While we would have rather it not been this way at all, meaning that we wish that this situation wouldn’t have or didn’t impact us as it did, it most certainly has. With it occurring in that way, we have seen close to all of our favorite forms of entertainment and fun come to a screeching halt.
We haven’t been able to go out to bars, pubs, to dance, to restaurants, travel, work for some, see our favorite baseball teams open their season, watch our favorite golfers play at The Masters, or see our beloved Miami Heat play basketball, among many other things.
That has caused everyone, including the NBA in this case, to take a different look at things. Looking at a way to finish off the season that was just suspended, most people have leaned towards finishing it including everyone LeBron knows at least, according to James himself.
With the notion of finishing this season off though, that has led to speculation or thought from some, such as the South Florida Sun’s Ira Winderman that next season then, won’t begin until December. This presents an interesting dynamic though for the Miami Heat when talking about their potential to host an All-Star weekend in the future.
As Winderman notes, the city and other planned events tend to occupy the attention and workloads of all entities that would need to be involved in the execution of an All-Star Weekend in Miami during the regular February window. These issues could range from lack of parking, lack of protection and security, lack of venues to hold the events, or a lack of lodging to accommodate the influx of fans and NBA personnel, among quite a few others.
A shift in the schedule to begin the season in December would put you in that mid-April to mid-May range, based on the four months from the beginning of the season currently until the following February when the event is held now.
Not only would this allow the Miami Heat to host such an event, but the actual climate, condition, and weather of the city might actually make for the ideal place to host it. We also have to simply be honest with ourselves, it’s Miami, for crying out loud.
Winderman even offered up another interesting little nugget that could come into play if the NBA were to be able to take the event back to South Florida. You could actually potentially stage Sunday night’s All-Star game outside in the open air of Marlins Stadium. That would be something unique, different, and right up the league’s alley if it can be worked out due to the massive amount of tickets that could be sold in a stadium.
We are totally on board with this idea. It sounds like the way to go.
So, Mr. Adam Silver, Mr. Eric Woolworth, Mr. Pat Riley, and Mr. Micky Arison, please work it out. Please?