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N.B.A.
Knicks
Nets
With a $500 million renovation planned for Madison Square Garden, the = Knicks=20 are preparing an application to host the All-Star Game at the earliest = possible=20 date. The renovated Garden is scheduled to be ready for basketball by = the=20 2011-12 season.
Garden executives have already made an unofficial pitch to N.B.A.=20 Commissioner David=20 Stern, who has embraced the prospect.
=93I would say it=92s a very live possibility,=94 Stern said = Wednesday in a=20 telephone interview.
The Garden has to file an application, and there will be competition = from=20 other N.B.A. cities, notably Orlando, Fla., which is building a new = arena. But=20 New York is likely to emerge as the favorite, given the Garden=92s = history, the=20 lure of Manhattan and Stern=92s enthusiasm for its bid.
Garden officials announced in early April that they intended to = overhaul the=20 arena=92s interior while preserving the outer shell. Changes will = include a new,=20 sunlit entryway off Seventh Avenue, the addition of luxury suites closer = to the=20 floor, wider public concourses and better sight lines throughout the = arena.
Hank Ratner, the Garden=92s vice chairman, presented the renovation = plans to=20 Stern and the deputy commissioner Adam Silver about two months ago. = Stern said=20 the renovated Garden would essentially be a modern, state-of-the-art = arena,=20 albeit one housed within the old building. The current Garden opened in=20 1968.
=93I can=92t speak as an architect or reviewer,=94 Stern said, but = the new Garden=20 will be =93quite extraordinary, quite commodious, and it=92s going to be = quite a=20 treat for the fans of New York.=94
The Garden has hosted the N.B.A.=92s All-Star weekend once, in 1998, =
when the=20
game turned into a memorable duel between
The previous Garden, at 49th Street and Eighth Avenue, played host to = the=20 All-Star Game in 1954, 1955 and 1968.
The league has a history of awarding the All-Star Game to new arenas, = as it=20 did in 2002 (Staples Center in Los Angeles), 2005 (Pepsi Center in = Denver) and=20 2006 (Toyota Center in Houston). League owners have lately shown a = preference=20 for warm-weather cities, placing the game in Houston, Las Vegas and New = Orleans=20 over the last three years. The 2009 game will be in Phoenix at the US = Airways=20 Center. Dallas is considered a favorite for the 2010 game.
Stern acknowledged that cities with warm climates and large = convention=20 centers have a distinct advantage in the bidding process.
=93Without sounding too provincial, New York City has its own = advantages,=94 he=20 said. =93The 1998 All-Star Game here was a great success.=94
The N.B.A. offices are in Manhattan. Stern was born in New York and = grew up=20 in Teaneck, N.J.
Garden officials are looking at a number of major events, including =
an
=93Madison Square Garden is really the family room for all of New = York,=94 Ratner=20 said in a separate interview. =93To attract the greatest events in the = world, the=20 world=92s most famous arena really needs to be the world=92s most = state-of-the-art=20 arena. That=92s what we=92re going to=20 do.=94
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