Top 20 Moments in New Orleans Pelicans History

Nov 22, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; A general view of the Smoothie King Center during the game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

18. The Hornets host 2008’s NBA All-Star Weekend

by Matt Cianfrone

Hosting the NBA’s great All-Star weekend isn’t an easy thing to do. From the work needed to earn the event from the NBA to making sure everything goes smoothly, getting and handling the set of events is always a big deal for the city.

In 2008 the Hornets welcomed the NBA’s All-Star weekend to the Big Easy for the first time, a process that started in 2005. It was in late 2005 that Toronto reportedly pulled the Air Canada Centere out of the running for the event and on May 22, 2006 NBA Commissioner David Stern announced the game would be played in New Orleans.

The event went off without a hitch, marking the first non-regular season event in the New Orleans Arena since Hurricane Katrina. It started with the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, one of the few events of the weekend that didn’t have a Hornets representative.

New Orleans saw hometown players Peja Stojakovic and Chris Paul compete in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout and PlayStation Skills Challenge respectively and both Paul and David West appeared and played well in the game.

Add in some local musical flare during both All-Star game introductions and the halftime show and it was an event New Orleans could be very proud of.

Next: The second time around