It's Haliburton's city — Pacers All-Star showcased on Indy's JW Marriott
Tyrese Haliburton is featured on a massive graphic display on the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend. Plus, full rosters announced.
Tyrese Haliburton is a two-time NBA All-Star who signed a max contract extension with the Pacers in the summer — and he’s now a proud ambassador for Indianapolis.
When thousands of guests arrive to town in just a few weeks for NBA All-Star Weekend 2024, an image of Haliburton overlooking the city cannot be ignored.
This week, crews with Sports Graphics finalized the installation of a giant display — which stretches 140 feet wide and 100 feet tall — that wraps around the north end of the JW Marriott hotel, just west of Monument Circle.
This is a first for the hotel — for an individual to be highlighted. In the past, we’ve seen graphics featuring the NCAA Tournament bracket, the Indianapolis 500’s Borg-Warner trophy, Super Bowl XLVI and a giant College Football Playoff Championship logo in 2022.
But Haliburton in a Pacers uniform? That’s new. The face of the Indiana Pacers will be participating in All-Star weekend for the second consecutive year and was an obvious choice.
“It’s a really cool moment for me,” he said of being voted an All-Star starter, “especially with it being in Indy and being able to represent not only this organization, but (also) the people who support the Pacers as well. So I’m really excited about that. It just shows I’m taking another step in the right direction for my career.”
This is all part of the All-Star Host Committee’s activation for Indy’s All-Star game, hosting for the first time since 1985. In place of a basketball is a QR code, which fans are encouraged to scan each day for the chance to get involved and win prizes.
Just last month, the Pacers agreed to a uniform patch sponsorship agreement with Spokenote to put a QR code on their jerseys. And now there’s a QR code on the side of Indy’s most notable downtown hotel.
In addition to this massive mural, there’s other signage going up across the downtown. Like this huge banner on a parking garage on Capitol Ave near Market St.
And there’s many signs on light poles across the city as well.
All-Star Teams Complete
We now know which 24 players are slated to participate in the All-Star game to be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday, Feb. 18.
The reserves, voted on by NBA head coaches, were announced Thursday night — one week after the starters were announced.
East starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.
East reserves: Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero and Julius Randle.
West starters: Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.
West reserves: Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis.
I would like to see the NBA add three more spots on each team. NBA rosters are 15 players so why are All-Star rosters limited just 12?
Any replacement players — which may be needed for Embiid and Randle, for example, in the Eastern Conference — are selected by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. And he often goes down the list of where players finished in the vote.
In the original combined fan, players and media vote for starters, Pacers center Myles Turner finished 15th among East frontcourt players.
Good question on why there are only 12 instead of 15. It would be nice to know why.