With online wait times rising over 30 minutes, basketball fans jumped at the prospect of seeing the NBA’s biggest stars at the Palestra, as tickets went on sale Tuesday for the “Battle for I-95.”
The latest in a string of high-profile summer league games, the Sept. 25 matchup will pit stars from Philadelphia against Carmelo Anthony’s Baltimore All-Star team.
The biggest guest though — LeBron James, who was confirmed as a participant Monday night — isn’t even from the East Coast. But students and others had no qualms with Carmelo’s new teammate, as they bought up tickets by the batch for the most highly anticipated game since the NBA went into a lockout in July.
By 3:30 p.m., half an hour after ticket sales opened on Penn Athletics’ website, all of the seats to the Palestra’s lower bowl were sold out. Many people waited on the site for upwards of 30 minutes to secure tickets.
“We’re pleased that the Palestra was chosen as the site for this extraordinary exhibition of some of the greatest basketball players in the world,” Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said in a statement. “These NBA players will witness firsthand what Philadelphians already know, that the Palestra is the most exciting venue for basketball in the country.”
The game is the brainchild of West Philadelphia native Hakim Warrick, who now plays for the Phoenix Suns.
“My Philadelphia All-Stars look forward to getting on the court and proving to Melo and the people of Baltimore/Washington that the best ballers come out of Philly!” Warrick said in a statement.
On Tuesday, former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans committed to play for team Philly, according to the game’s organizer, Rahim Thompson. Warrick also hinted in a statement that he would bring some All-Star talent of his own to match that of LeBron, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant — and he reportedly has reached out to Philadelphia native Kobe Bryant.
Some revenue from the game will go to the West Philadelphia Community Center, where Warrick learned to play basketball, and several blocks of tickets were donated to local community groups.
Penn Athletics was able to acquire a block of free tickets for students who participated in the Line, Penn’s annual basketball event to become student season-ticket holders. Those seats will be raffled off in a lottery, as well as a group of tickets for men’s basketball season ticket holders.
“I was happy that they did set aside a certain number of seats for us,” said Rob Sharp, one of the student leaders of the Line and the Red and Blue Crew.
“I would have been happier had it been set in stone,” he continued. “And especially if they had set aside tickets for the Line leaders.”
Sharp said he is taking his chances with the lottery and will try to find tickets if that doesn’t work out.
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