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Closing Bell

New Orleans Looks To "Set Itself Apart" As NBA All-Star Host

More than 50,000 visitors are "expected to descend" on New Orleans this weekend for NBA All-Star-related festivities. Organizers are pushing for the city to "set itself apart from all previous cities" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 2/12). NBA Dir of Events Adi Wilk estimates attendance higher, at 80,000-90,000 for the weekend. More than 40 truckloads of new equipment have been installed in and around Smoothie King Arena, including "23 cameras that can provide 360-degree views" (THEADVOCATE.com, 2/14).

Jam Session begins Friday at 4:00pm CT, and attendees "will be given wristbands" with RFID tags that "allow them to photograph, track and share their experiences." adidas will operate a pop-up shop in the French Quarter; Foot Locker and Nike are turning the Canal Street Foot Locker store into the "House of Hoops"; Ciroc will turn the House of Blues into "Club ene-be-a" for a night (THEADVOCATE.com, 2/11).

NBA team owners and their guests Friday will attend a welcome party at Contemporary Arts Center, where they will arrive to a red carpet and be "greeted by a pair of giant cast concrete pelicans" (New Orleans ADVOCATE, 2/14).

The inaugural Bud Light District next to Smoothie King Arena will host private parties and concerts throughout the weekend (NBA). Trail Blazers G Damien Lillard and Wizards G John Wall are hosting an "adidas-sponsored party" at the House of Blues on Saturday (OREGONLIVE.com, 2/12).

ESPN3.com will offer live coverage of the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Sports Basketball Game on Sunday at 2:00pm ET (ESPN). 

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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