Toronto, Canada...it looks like might have your first NBA All-Star weekend.
As reported by the Toronto Sun:
Multiple sources told the Toronto Sun Tuesday that the Raptors are on the verge of landing the 2016 NBA all-star weekend. An official announcement is expected within a week that will reveal further details of how one of the sport’s biggest weekends will tie into Toronto’s 20th-anniversary season.
As Canada becomes more of a hotbed for basketball talent with the likes of 2013 first overall draft pick Anthony Bennett and the potential 2014 NBA first round draft phenom, Andrew Wiggins, this couldn't come at a more appropriate time. The year 2016 will also mark the 20th anniversary for the Toronto Raptors franchise inception. The All-Star weekend, which has been trending in warm weather cities for about the last ten years, will make its return north in "colder-climate" cities with New York-Brooklyn hosting the All-Star weekend in 2015 and likelyToronto in 2016. An NBA All-Star weekend in Canada's largest city has been a long time coming.
This was one of the first goals for the newest MLSE president and CEO, Tim Leiweke, and to see his goal come to fruition bodes well for the Raptors franchise. Leiweke and Raptors GM, Masai Ujiri plan to put the necessary building blocks in place to set the franchise up for postseason success in the near future. But hey, if for some reason the Toronto Raptors can't pull off a playoff berth in the next couple seasons, this 2016 All-Star weekend north of the border makes for a nice consolation prize.
(Photo via CBC.ca)
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