Pacers and Indianapolis use 3-year delay to add new wrinkles to 1st NBA All-Star weekend since 1985
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The signs are all around downtown Indianapolis now. NBA All-Star weekend has finally arrived. Yes, nearly seven years after Larry Bird drove a blue-and-gold IndyCar down New York’s Fifth Avenue to hand-deliver the city’s bid and three years after the league’s midseason classic was scheduled to be played in Indy, the NBA is coming to town. The delay actually helped organizers. It gave them time to expand their plans, complete projects and put on a full-fledged show instead of what would have been a scaled back version during the COVID-19 pandemic.