Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.
Joe Maloof tried to temper his comments about Las Vegas playing host to the 2007 NBA All-Star Game and its related festivities, whose official approval from NBA commissioner David Stern is expected Friday.
Maloof, whose family owns the NBA's Sacramento Kings and the Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas, mostly wanted to reserve that revelation for Stern.
In talking about what his brother, George, accomplished in securing the NBA's mid-season showcase event in a non-NBA city for the first time, though, Joe Maloof used the past tense.
"He's my brother, so I'm a little biased," Joe said Tuesday from his Las Vegas office. "He really worked hard on this, but it wasn't just George. A lot of people in the city ... the (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) was great, the mayor (Oscar Goodman) was terrific.
"It was a team effort for the city. Las Vegas should be very proud of the way it was handled. It was a great job."
For nearly a week, multiple news sources have reported that the NBA has picked Vegas as the site for its All-Star Game in February 2007.
Hall of Fame player Earvin "Magic" Johnson told ESPN.com on Monday that the city getting the All-Star Game is the "first step" in the league eventually placing a team in Las Vegas, and he would like to be involved in the ownership of that franchise.
"I think David Stern made a really smart marketing move by going there," Johnson told ESPN.com while unveiling a new shoe and clothing line in New York. "Everyone is going to want to be in Vegas."
George Maloof, who runs the day-to-day Palms operations, said he wanted to withhold comment until Stern, likely at the Las Vegas Convention Center, makes an official announcement.
"We just need to wait and hear from the league," he said. "I don't want to jump the gun. If it happens, it's just an incredible event for this town, something we've never experienced.
"It will be unique, and great, for the people who live here, the community and the kids. That's the thing I'm most excited about."
The game, a 3-point shootout and a dunk contest are scheduled to be held at the Thomas & Mack Center, and an interactive fan festival and Jam Session will take place at Mandalay Bay's convention hall and 12,000-seat arena.
The NBA will reserve 5,000 room nights, and the LVCVA reported that the game and its related events would draw 25,000 visitors, who would buy almost 43,000 hotel room nights, with a non-gaming economic impact of about $27 million.
No doubt, the gaming impact of an NBA All-Star weekend of festivities will be felt, too, courtesy of young millionaire basketball players.
Toronto swingman Jalen Rose, tossing dice at the Palms while wearing a Pete Maravich throwback jersey, and Lakers free agent Luke Walton and New Jersey swingman Richard Jefferson, rolling the bones at the Hard Rock, are Vegas regulars.
Count on Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley seeking high-limit entertainment, too.
"It'll bring international attention to the city, especially with the media," Joe Maloof said. "It'll probably be the most-covered NBA All-Star Game in the history of the game. Journalists from all over the world will cover it, which will be terrific for the NBA and the city.
"The city has an opportunity to showcase all the great things we have in Las Vegas. And it'll be good for the locals, because there will be a complete week of NBA entertainment, with the jam sessions and interactive games."
Joe and Gavin Maloof operate the Kings for Maloof Sports and Entertainment, and those two first talked about bringing the All-Star Game to Las Vegas in late February or early March.
Joe said he next broached the subject to Goodman.
"To see if he liked the idea," Joe said. "We talked a little about it, in the interest of the city, and he really thought it was a great opportunity, something that might be done. Then we talked to the NBA, and they looked into it.
"Next thing you know, Oscar Goodman and (George) and the NBA were talking. That's really why we've got it."
George Maloof played a pivotal role, Joe said, in contacting hotel owners and executives for their input, and in getting them to agree not to take wagers on the game, or any side events, in their sports books.
In June, state gaming regulators agreed to prevent Nevada's legalized sports books from accepting wagers on All-Star events in Las Vegas.
"Stern didn't want the All-Star Game on the (sports) books, and George and Mayor Goodman talked to the different casino owners about their opinions and if they would take it off the books," Joe said. "They all said that was OK."
In July, the LVCVA board of directors agreed to spend more than $4.5 million on site fees, tickets and other expenses, if Vegas was awarded the game, in an official bid to the NBA's headquarters in New York.
"My brothers mentioned it to me, I thought it would be great, I started making some calls and it went from there," George Maloof said. "The first step was to make sure everyone in Las Vegas, casino executives and the mayor, were comfortable with it."
Joe Maloof compared Vegas to Sacramento, in that the Northern California city had no major sports team until it welcomed, then fervently supported, the Kings after they left Kansas City in 1985. But he stopped short of saying Southern Nevada will have a franchise from a major league anytime soon.
Gambling and public money for a state-of-the-art arena or stadium, he said, will be formidable obstacles.
"Right now," Joe Maloof said, "I'd say it's years away."
Which is likely how many might have viewed the city's chances of landing an NBA All-Star Game without having an NBA team.
"Everything has been so positive," Joe Maloof said. "We know the NBA would work here and we thought the best thing would be to try an All-Star Game. I think the NBA is really excited about the possibility of having the game here.
"And we're proud of the city."
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