HOUSTON – NBA All-Star Weekend is coming back to Houston in 2013.
"Why Houston? Because we know how to do this," Houston Mayor Annise Parker said.
The city and the league made the official announcement Wednesday.
"It is my pleasure to announce that the NBA All-Star experience is coming to Houston," NBA Commissioner David Stern said. "NBA All-Star 2013 will be like so many of our other All-Star games -- a major event that makes Houston the basketball capitol of the world."
NBA All-Star Weekend 2013 was scheduled for Feb. 15-17, 2013.
NBA All-Star Weekend's main feature is the All-Star Game in which the top players in the west and east battle each other.
NBA All-Star Saturday Night showcases players' skills in an obstacle course challenge, a slam dunk contest and a three-point shooting contest.
Fans can live out their basketball dreams at Jam Session, which lasts the entire weekend.
"We will not only have the NBA interactive basketball experience at the Brown convention center, but we'll have a caravan around the city through NBA Cares, doing what our players and our legends and our D-Leaguers and our WNBA players do. They give back to all of their communities, but they do it especially at All-Star time."
Stern said All-Star weekend is like a big family reunion for past and present players.
"All-Star Weekend 2013 is a place where the entire NBA family will gather," Stern said.
Houston hosted NBA All-Star Weekend in 1989 and 2006.
"We are truly honored to have the third NBA All-Star game here in the city of Houston. Houstonians understand sports, they enjoy sports, they support our teams, but Houston knows how to do major sporting events," Parker said. "We know how to treat fans and players from around the country and around the world."
Parker said that hosting two NBA All-Star Weekend events in seven years shows that the league is impressed by Houston.
"Don't be a stranger," she said. "We want you back again after that. We're not done in 2013."
Parker said the economic impact will be huge for the city.
"Heads in beds for the hotel industry, dollars spent in restaurants, in traffic with taxi cabs, with visiting the various activities around the city of Houston," Parker said. "We believe that the bottom-line impact, based on actual numbers from 2006, is more than $100 million."
The 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend is in Orlando Feb. 24-26.