Pistons bid to host NBA All-Star Game at Little Caesars Arena

The Detroit Pistons have submitted bids for 2020 and 2021 to host the NBA All-Star Game at Little Caesars Arena, the team announced Friday.

The Pistons will play their first season at the new arena in downtown Detroit in 2017-18.

“Detroit is an iconic sports town with some of the most passionate basketball fans in the world,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “There is also a spirit of renewal and an energy in Detroit right now that is unlike anywhere in the country.  I want the league and all fans of the NBA to be part of this incredible turnaround story. There is nothing else like it.”

There have been two NBA All-Star Games in Detroit – in 1959 at Olympia Stadium and in 1979 at the Pontiac Silverdome.

The Palace of Auburn Hills, home to the Pistons from 1988 through this past season, never hosted an NBA All-Star Game.