Dwyane Wade’s ‘Hometown Tour’ hits town Dec. 7
NBA stars are coming to town, but it won’t be at the United Center.
As the NBA lockout drags on with no new negotiations in sight, four of the league’s biggest stars announced plans to stage four exhibition games, including a stop in Chicago at the UIC Pavilion on Dec. 7.
Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony have teamed up for what they call the “Hometown Tour,” with proceeds helping their charity efforts.
Wade grew up in southwest suburban Robbins, so the Chicago stop belongs to him. He’s playing for the Wade’s World Foundation.
“It’ll be very neat,” Wade said. “First of all, this is something we talked about doing a long time ago as players. To have an opportunity to go to these different cities that we’re from, to bring basketball to them at a high level and also have a charitable component in each city and to be with the guys, it’ll be cool. It’s something we’re looking forward to.”
The hometown theme is loosely interpreted. The tour opens in James’ hometown of Akron, Ohio, on Dec. 1. But both Paul and Anthony are hosting games in their NBA homes. The tour is set to stop in New Orleans on Dec. 3 and New Jersey’s Izod Center on Dec. 10.
The four stars are expected to play in every game and likely will be joined by Miami forward Chris Bosh. The rest of the lineups will be announced later and figure to change in each city.
The official release read only that the games will feature two teams of 10 renowned players.
It will be interesting to see if any Bulls players take part in the UIC game. Derrick Rose has stated a distaste for all-star games and didn’t do much to recruit Wade or James to Chicago as free agents in 2010, so he’d be a surprising participant. Same for Joakim Noah.
Carlos Boozer, who lives in Miami, is friends with Wade and played with James in Cleveland, so he’s a more likely candidate. Forward Taj Gibson also considers James a friend.
Tickets for the game at UIC go on sale Nov. 22 at 10 a.m. at TicketMaster outlets.
Ÿ The Associated Press contributed to this report.