This question came from “Aloha Basketball” on Twitter: “Why doesn’t Hawaii offer to host the NBA Allstar game in place of Charlotte?”

My first reaction was to just laugh it off without a thought assuming the query was a joke. But then, at least on the surface, it’s a fair question, right? After all, this is Hawaii: the world’s greatest tourism destination.

And now with the NBA midseason break being a week, or even longer for some teams, the islands’ distance from the continent shouldn’t be a factor. There’s plenty of time to recover from jet lag.

The reason for the NBA moving the game out of North Carolina — laws discriminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — wouldn’t be in play either. Hawaii, by reputation and law, is an LGBT-friendly state.

Also, the game would be in the middle of winter. What better place to be in February than Hawaii?

Yes, for many reasons this is an outstanding place to visit.

But — as has been reinforced by recent events (and canceled events) — Hawaii is NOT the world’s greatest SPORTS tourism destination.

Far from it … 4,204 miles to be exact. That’s the distance from Honolulu to New Orleans.

The Big Easy is the front-runner to replace Charlotte. And New Orleans hosted the 2008 and 2014 All-Star games.

Hawaii’s recent track record is much less successful.

In December, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team canceled a match at Aloha Stadium, claiming the playing surface unsafe.

In May, the NFL moved the Pro Bowl to Orlando from Hawaii. Since 1980, all but two of the NFL’s annual all-star games had been played at Aloha Stadium.

While this was happening, a bill aimed at creating a state commission for securing sports and entertainment events was dying in the state legislature. Instead, the Hawaii Tourism Authority retained control of millions of dollars of tax money earmarked for sports tourism marketing.

The HTA said it would contract a sports marketing firm — but so far, crickets. Conceivably, that firm’s job would be to position Hawaii for opportunities such as this.

Now, you can point at other things like the lack of a suitable venue. The biggest basketball arena in Hawaii is the Stan Sheriff Center, which seats 10,300. The attendance of the last two NBA All-Star games was 18,298 at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre last season and 17,198 in Madison Square Garden in 2015.

However, the 2010 game was played at a football facility, Cowboys Stadium, in front of (or in the general vicinity of) 108,713.

Does that mean the NBA All-Star game could be played at Aloha Stadium, with its 50,000-seat capacity?

Well, it’s conceivable. But until Hawaii gets its act together and becomes proactive and organized in regard to sports marketing, it’s just a pipe dream … and you can’t blame anyone for laughing off such questions.

So there’s your long answer. My short answer to “Aloha Basketball” on Twitter?

“bc state is not positioned to move quickly/effectively on such opportunities. Ask HTA why.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.