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Hoosiers pen ‘Love Letters to Basketball’ to welcome NBA All-Star fans

The heartfelt words of thousands of Hoosiers will welcome NBA All-Star fans to Indianapolis thanks to a special campaign asking residents to write a "Love Letter to Basketball." (Provided Photo/NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee)

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — If you could put your love of basketball into words, what would you say?

Thousands Hoosiers put pen to paper and wrote a “Love Letter to Basketball to help create the best atmosphere for basketball fans and showcase Indiana’s love of the game.

When the NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee announced the letter-writing campaign, it asked Hoosiers for 8,000 letters.

Every NBA All-Star guest will find a love letter in their hotel room when they arrive for All-Star Weekend.

The host committee says the want the letter writer and the recipient “to be flooded with memories of when and why they fell in love with basketball, how basketball has shaped their lives and brought them both heartache and joy – and, why they wouldn’t have it any other way.”

According to the All-Star 2024 website, “Your letter will transport the reader to their high school gym, the playground or their driveway; they will feel the weight of the ball in their hands, the smooth leather of a well-worn basketball and the smell of new shoes, a new ball, popcorn in the gym and their lucky socks that never get washed. They will hear the steady thump of the basketball in their driveway, 365 days a year, in the blistering sun, the pouring rain and, scrape of the shovel so the thumps will reverberate throughout the winter; and they will hear the sounds of squeaky shoes on the gym floor, the final buzzer and the roar of the crowd.”

“They will read the letter and know in 49 states it is just basketball … but this is Indiana.”

Click here to learn more about NBA All-Star Weekend.