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Kristin Mays-Corbitt was 9 years old and on crutches when the NBA All-Star Game came to town in 1985.
She insisted her mother take her downtown in the snow to the Hoosier Dome to see her favorite players—many now in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Many of her memories are captured in photos she took on her Kodak disc camera.
“I was just in awe because I was in the same location as they were and got to see them play together, which was just amazing,” she said.
Now, 39 years later, Mays-Corbitt is on NBA All-Star 2024 Host Committee and is co-chair of the communications committee, which handles marketing and branding.
“[All-Star] is a really neat intersection of sports and business and community and volunteerism,” she said. “You get to meet so many new and different people that do these really eclectic things that are so interesting.”
Mays-Corbitt served on a civic advisory committee for the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis and was involved in planning the College Football Playoff National Championship here in 2022.
She hopes this year’s All-Star Weekend will provide lasting memories for people of all walks of life.
“I think that this is the intersection of basketball and entertainment, and I was also committed to the efforts of the Pacers organization to make this the most inclusive NBA All-Star Game that’s ever been held,” Mays-Corbitt said.
Mays-Corbitt is CEO of Mays Chemical Co., a business founded by her father, Bill Mays. The company specializes in the distribution of chemicals for the food, pharmaceutical and personal care industries and is one of the 40 largest chemical distributors in North America.
She recalled her father taking her to Indiana Pacers games at Market Square Arena and watching postgame concerts on the floor.
“It is just so neat to see how basketball has evolved and changed,” Mays-Corbitt said.•
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