Clippers announce 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend at new Intuit Dome

Clippers announce 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend at new Intuit Dome

After touring the still-under-construction Inglewood arena on Tuesday with Steve Ballmer,

the owner of the Clippers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced

that it will also serve as the 2028 Olympic basketball court.

INGLEWOOD: There are mostly no seats in the arena, and the acre-sized television board is dark.

To fulfil deadlines, construction staff never stop working.

Nevertheless, the NBA formally declared on Tuesday that the 2026 NBA All-Star Game

will take place in the soon-to-be-finished Intuit Dome,

the Clippers’ future home, amidst the sounds of saws and hammers.

The cutting-edge 17,700-seat facility is expected to open in August,

and the Clippers will play their inaugural season in Inglewood starting in the fall.

During a press conference at the partially constructed arena, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer stated,

“It’s such an honour for us to be able to host an All-Star Game.”

Ballmer was wearing a neon vest and a hard hat.

“When I learned it was feasible and even more so when the NBA announced we were going to get it,I was ecstatic.”

To provide arena personnel and club officials time to iron out any kinks,

the team will play a full season at its new home before hosting the All-Star Game halfway through its second season.

Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, said it made sense to have the game at the new venue.

“We enjoy bringing All-Star activities to new or recently renovated arenas, so the opportunity presented itself,”

Silver stated. And as we reviewed our itinerary,

we saw that this is how things ended up for ’26. San Francisco was

obviously recently announced for the previous year (2025) and it fell within the schedule.

To be honest, the team’s fervour for hosting the All-Star Game here also plays a role.

“And you witnessed firsthand the tremendous passion that

the Clippers have for hosting an All-Star from the top down,

as demonstrated by Steve and Gillian Zucker, the team’s president of business operations.

And that played a significant role in it.

The 2026 All-Star Game is expected to bring in more than $350 million for the Los Angeles area,

according to Mayor Karen Bass. James T. Butts, the mayor of Inglewood,

was also present during the announcement.

That’s incredible, she exclaimed. That will be in 2026.

Next are the 2028 Olympics, the 2027 Super Bowl,

and the World Cup in the summer of 2026.

Each of those occasions has the potential to change our area.

According to Silver, the 2028 Olympic basketball competition will take place within the Intuit Dome.

Having worked for the NBA for 32 years, Silver said he has seen venues all over the world and

this one “is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

Prior to the press presentation on Tuesday, he spent an hour touring the location with Ballmer.

“It all begins with Steve Ballmer’s decision to construct an arena with basketball as its focal point…

he wanted to construct this arena and make basketball the centrepiece,” Silver continued.

“Everyone seems to know that he enjoys loud things,” This place is going to be noisy.

It’s this amazing encounter.

In addition to Ballmer’s passion for basketball and all things Clippers,

Silver claimed that the Intuit Dome benefits greatly from his experience with technology.

Ballmer was Microsoft’s previous CEO.

When completed, the Intuit Dome will be a state-of-the-art arena

with a practice area and a sizable outdoor plaza with public basketball courts.

With 120 restrooms and an intimate, immersive fan experience,

the arena’s interior was built with concession stands.

Each seat in the $2 billion, privately financed arena will be able to record when a customer stands or sits,

and the arena’s roof is built to hold the 44,000 square feet of LED lights that make up the halo board.

“This is as good as it gets if you want this to be the best basketball experience on the planet,” Ballmer remarked.

“The apex, the highest point. Of course, there are people here who will pass us by,

but we’ve worked really hard to be ahead of that in this building. This is the main concern.

NBA All-Star Weekend was last held in Los Angeles in 2018 at Crypto.com Arena, formerly Staples Centre.

More than any other city in the league,

Los Angeles has hosted the midseason event six times (1963, 1972, 1983, 2004, 2011, 2018).

The NBA Rising Stars showcase, which is open to the best rookies and second-year NBA players,

will take place at the Intuit Dome on Friday, February 13, at the start of the 2026 All-Star on-court events.

All-Star Saturday Night on February 14 will include dunk, 3-point, and skill competitions.

On Sunday, February 15, the NBA All-Star Game will take place as the weekend’s finale.

Several locations in Los Angeles and Inglewood, including the L.A. Convention Centre and the Kia Forum,

both owned by Ballmer, will play host to NBA games.

NBA All-Star fanfest, the All-Star Celebrity Game, and All-Star practice are among these events.

Along with celebrating its commitment to social responsibility,

the league will have a full week of NBA Cares events scheduled.

“We have a year to prepare so that we can be flawless for the All-Star Game,” Ballmer stated.

“The league gave us this year to get our act together.”Simply put,

the greatest basketball players in the world must be

competing here if you want to have the apex of the sport. We are ecstatic beyond measure.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend will be held next month in Indianapolis.

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