NBA making All-Star effort

NEW ORLEANS -- Kobe Bryant starred in the first professional sporting event here after Hurricane Katrina. Now he’s back in the Bayou with the rest of the NBA’s best for a much bigger game.

All-Star weekend is the league’s grandest step yet in its efforts to aid New Orleans in its recovery from the August 2005 disaster, a chance to help people still in need -- and ideally even turn some of them into basketball fans.

“I think it’s great for the city,” said Bryant, a 10-time All-Star. “They’ve obviously been through a hell of a lot and still going through it, and I think it says a lot to have the All-Star game there.”

Bryant scored 40 points in the Lakers’ 113-107 victory over the Hornets on March 8, 2006. Two months later, Commissioner David Stern announced New Orleans would stage the league’s midseason showcase, even though it was far from a guarantee the city would be ready for it.

“Despite the fact people want to say we took a chance, or we led with our heart, whatever, we thought it was the right thing to do but we didn’t think it was foolhardy,” Stern said. “We thought it was the right thing to do and it was going to come off OK.”

Stern’s announcement came just nine months after Katrina had devastated the region, when just as many people were talking about leaving New Orleans as committing to go back. Besides the estimated $90 million the weekend will bring to the city, it’s a chance for New Orleans to show how far it has come since the hurricane.

“I think that’s part of the vision that David had, because right away he said we’re going to have the All-Star game in a couple of years,” said Hall of Famer Willis Reed, a Louisiana native and former Hornets executive. “And I think that was great for him because he realized that this was going to be a great addition, it would be significant, it would give a good shot in the arm for everybody.

“Because sometimes you read, look at television, I see the same footage every time. Every time it comes on the air, I see New Orleans still under water. New Orleans is not still under water. But people think that.”

They also think New Orleans isn’t much of a basketball city. Though the Hornets have one of the best records in the NBA and a potential MVP candidate in Chris Paul, they have drawn poorly in their full-time return to New Orleans Arena after spending most of the last two seasons in Oklahoma City.

If the attendance doesn’t pick up soon, the Hornets may eventually have the option to pick up and leave. Perhaps the NBA and its round-the-clock schedule of events can help uncover some new fans.

“It certainly can’t hurt,” Stern said. “There aren’t going to be too many people in New Orleans who don’t know that the Hornets are back by the time All-Star weekend comes to a close.”

That comes after three days packed with basketball, from Friday’s rookie challenge to the Saturday skills challenges to today’s game.

The league expected about 2,500 people, including all the players, to take part Friday in its “All-Star Day of Service.” Events ranging from the rebuilding and restoring of homes to the improvement of schools and playgrounds were scheduled for 10 sites throughout the city.

“I’m glad we’re going to New Orleans for that reason,” said Boston’s Doc Rivers, who will coach the Eastern Conference. “They need it. If you look at all the cities in America that need an All-Star game, New Orleans needs it.”