D.C. Gets 2001 All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star game is coming to the nation's capital for the first time.

The downtown MCI Center will be the site of the annual midseason extravaganza on Feb. 11, 2001, the league announced Saturday.

The Washington Wizards franchise has been the host for two previous All-Star games, but in different cities. The team was called the Baltimore Bullets when the game was played at the Baltimore Civic Center in 1969. The renamed Washington Bullets welcomed the game to the Capital Centre in Landover, Md., in 1980.

The 2000 All-Star game will be played in Oakland on Feb. 13. Philadelphia, scheduled to host last season's game before it was canceled because of the lockout, is the favorite to be awarded the 2002 game.

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