Mayor Cory A. Booker, NBA Commissioner David Stern, and Devils Arena Entertainment Chairman and Managing Partner Jeff Vanderbeek have announced that the Prudential Center in Newark has been selected to host the 2012 NBA Draft, scheduled for June 28 at 7 pm. ESPN will televise the event live.
This year will mark the third time the event has been held in New Jersey.
“Since the opening of the Prudential Center in 2007, Newark has established itself as an all-American sports city and a premier center for basketball,” said Booker.
“We are pleased the Draft is returning to the City of Newark,” said Stern. “Prudential Center is state-of-the-art, and we look forward to working with city officials and the arena’s staff to produce another memorable event for our fans.”
The NBA Draft became a public event in 1979, and was held in various venues in New York City through 1991. It was held in Portland in 1992, followed by Detroit (1993), Indianapolis (1994), Toronto (1995), East Rutherford (1996), Charlotte (1997), Vancouver (1998), Washington D.C. (1999) and Minneapolis (2000). The NBA Draft returned to New York City from 2001 to 2010, before moving to the Prudential Center in 2011.
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