NBA Commissioner Adam Silver last night at Time Warner Cable Arena said the Hornets “have a great chance” of hosting an All-Star Game in the near future and at this point, “it’s really just a question of what year” it will come to fruition. The Hornets in August announced their intent to bid on the ASG and soon after released renovation plans for the city-owned venue. Silver said, “I’m appreciative that the city responded to the organization here and agreed to make needed renovations to the building." He noted the next available ASG is '17, and the host cities for both the ’17 and ’18 games will “most likely” be named at the same time. Silver: “We want to award them as early as possible so there can be maximum opportunity to plan.” He added that after going through a period in the league where “for whatever reason, some of the owners were disfavoring” hosting ASGs, it is now “back in vogue.” Meanwhile, Silver said he is encouraged that market size is “becoming much less important” in the NBA. Silver: “The difference in market size between Charlotte and say Chicago isn’t all that significant when you’re marketing to entire continents." He added that the recently discussed topic of finding ways to get players more rest is “not something that’s a new issue,” but is something “that we all need to get a lot smarter about.” Just six-plus weeks away from celebrating his one-year anniversary as commissioner, Silver said, “It’s been incredibly exciting for me; it’s been stressful at other times.” He also said the league is "potentially looking at starting the season a little bit earlier, maybe shortening the preseason a little bit," but keeping the same number of games.
