Houston — Count Tracy McGrady as concerned about the National Basketball Association taking their All-Star Game to New Orleans next season. Concerned enough that the Houston Rockets All-Star may not attend.
"If I don't feel like it's going to be safe, if I'm on that team, I will think about not going," said McGrady as the Houston Rockets were preparing for tonight's match-up with the visiting Toronto Raptors.
McGrady was responding to questions about last week's All-Star Game in Las Vegas, which has been dogged by reports of threatening and criminal behaviour by fans drawn to the city by the three-day NBA showcase.
"That was the first thing I thought about [regarding the game being held in New Orleans next season]," said McGrady. "I thought about how much safety and security there's going to be for the players. I don't think it's the right city right now. Safety has to come first."
Houston Rockets forward Tracy McGrady drives on Orlando Magic forward Grant Hill during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Orlando on Feb. 25. (John Raoux/AP)
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Concerns about what happened in Las Vegas and what may happen in New Orleans — which has been plagued by violent crime as the city struggles to recover from Hurricane Katrina — has been a steady theme in NBA circles.
Billy Hunter, the National Basketball Players Association president, said earlier this week he was prepared to force the NBA to move the game if he didn't think it was safe for the players.
He has since said he was speaking hypothetically, and is planning a visit to New Orleans to investigate the city first hand.
McGrady's Rockets teammate Rafer Alston also suggested he'd be wary about visiting New Orleans during All-Star weekend next season.
"If New Orleans is like [it] is now, what's it going to be like when there's 500,000 people there, and a lot of them who earn a substantial amount of money?" said Alston, also a former Raptor. "You see the number of people arrested in Las Vegas and you think, 'Wow, what would happen in that was in New Orleans?"
Alston said if he did make his first all-star team next season he would likely go, but likely would go alone.
"If you make it you're obligated to go, but the question is do you invite you're friends and family, because then you're concerned about your mother or your friends, are they okay? That's where the question lies."
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