Author:
Blog About:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/nba-charlotte-north-ca...
NBA pulls All-Star Game in North Carolina over LGBT law controversy
By Nick Gass
The National Basketball Association is pulling the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, after the state passed a law banning anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people and did not move to moderate or repeal it, the league announced Thursday.
“Since March, when North Carolina enacted HB2 and the issue of legal protections for the LGBT community in Charlotte became prominent, the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change," the NBA said in a statement, making reference to the controversial law. "We have been guided in these discussions by the long-standing core values of our league. These include not only diversity, inclusion, fairness and respect for others but also the willingness to listen and consider opposing points of view."
Six senators had called upon NBA commissioner Adam Silver to relocate the game, previously slated for Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena, which in addition to being the home of the Hornets also hosted the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
“Our week-long schedule of All-Star events and activities is intended to be a global celebration of basketball, our league, and the values for which we stand, and to bring together all members of the NBA community – current and former players, league and team officials, business partners, and fans," the statement continued. "While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.
The NBA's statement paid heed to the "passionate" fans in the basketball-crazy state while acknowledging that both the city and the team "have sought to provide an inclusive environment and that the Hornets will continue to ensure that all patrons – including members of the LGBT community – feel welcome while attending games and events in their arena."
Charlotte could, indeed, have an All-Star game in its near future, but not until 2019, and "provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter." The league said it would announce the host city "in the coming weeks."
Comments
Thank you NBA
There is no longer time to act like a jackass and use the Bible to shield yourself. Thank you NBA
Good!!
People need to understand that hate and discrimination have consequences. Hope the businesses in Charlotte are prepared to put their money where their sentiments are since this move is going to cost them a bundle. Couldn't happen to a more deserving group of folks.
To be fair...
the business community and people of Charlotte are NOT the problem. In fact, the whole HB2 thing was set off in NC because Charlotte was trying to protect LGBT citizens and the idiots in the state legislature hated that idea. The STATE government of North Carolina is the problem, not the city of Charlotte.
Samirah M. Johnstone
The people and businesses of Charlotte and the state
ELECTED those idiots. Hoping they feel enough pain to do something about it.
NOT the people of Charlotte.
NOT the people of Charlotte. Charlotte is one of the most powerful blocs of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents in the state. Indeed, only Charlotte and the Triangle can claim that fact. They were in SUPPORT of an anti-discrimination policy that the Republicans are against.
So blaming the city of Charlotte is foolishness. They don't have any control by themselves of the government. Don't be foolish.
Samirah M. Johnstone
If they actually gave a damn
Call me out on this, flame me, insult me for being insensitive but if the league actually gave a damn about the law then they would have done something when it first passed. They played multiple games since the law passed yet where was the cancellations or moving of games out of the state? The same goes for the NHL and NFL. You don't see either of those leagues doing anything, moving the Hurricanes or Panthers to other cities until the bill was revoked or shot down by the federal courts.
I am cynical and see this as more of a PR thing to get attention to the game than trying to call for an end to the law. They had months to do something, they didn't.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Biz Is Biz
The WNBA is strongly aligned with LGBT. The NFL and NHL have no such ties. In fact, the NFL is very much a homophobic holdout because they can be without fear of financial pain.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
The NBA and the Hornets
The NBA and the Hornets actually were trying to work within the system. (I do know a couple people who work within the Hornets franchise...)
The problem is that the current state government is so far radicalized that they refuse to back down whatsoever, so the decision was made.
Samirah M. Johnstone
I would imagine that because
I would imagine that because of existing contracts and league rules, they can't do anything about games that are to be played at the teams home stadiums. They can however move an "extracurricular" game, such as the All-Star Game.
Probably Been Said Already...
The NBA's an out-of-state business and can make a move like that.
Any cancellation by a franchise actually in the state would seriously hurt its own business (and probably all the visiting teams too, assuming they're now getting a share of the gate -- back in the earlier days of the league, the NBA was the one major league that didn't). Quite apart from whatever the team have to pay for having reserved those dates at the arena and what it'd cost to settle with the fans who already have tickets (which is probably most of them, in these days when season ticket holders are prevalent), they'd be unlikely to draw comparable crowds at comparable ticket prices in exile, so to speak. So while falling on one's figurative sword is a noble gesture, this is still a capitalist system and not many businesses would be so noble.
Out-of-state businesses can make a statement like that. In-state businesses realistically can't. They can threaten to move if the state law isn't fixed (which is what Apple did in Arkansas, if I remember right), but the real pressure's going to come from organization conventions and the like not coming to the state and telling the world why. (And in any case all the legislature really has to do is repeal the part that overrides existing city or county antidiscrimination laws like Charlotte's.) For the NBA to do this -- and no, it's not because they need to publicize the game; it'd probably sell out anywhere this side of Anchorage, and at premium ticket prices -- makes a nice point and probably only costs them if they move it someplace smaller -- plus whatever, if anything, they'll have to pay to cancel the two-day rental of the place on seven months notice.
Eric
Bravo NBA
I was worried that the so called attempt to "fix" HB2 would sway them to staying. I am glad they saw through the weak attempt at subterfuge.
Sorry the City of Charlotte will be paying the price when they were the supporters FOR us in the first place.
Teresa L.
This article and news are faked.
A website in England posted the fake news and other news agencies picked it up... this is lazy journalism and outright plagiarism at its worst.
No sites were cited as the source so larger and larger media picked it up an parroted it. One even credited Associated Press (AP) for the article. Everyone has come out and retracted their articles although google and other search engines haven't caught up yet.
People need to research the facts before posting fiction as fact.
Dayna.
NBA website
http://www.nba.com/2016/news/07/21/nba-statement-all-star-ga...
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Fake?! The NBA announced this
Fake?! The NBA announced this themselves. As Erin pointed out, it came direct from their own website. So don't go saying it is fake when it is fact.
Samirah M. Johnstone
The Fake Story...
...did happen a month or two ago, according to the Columbia Journalism Review. It's described here, six paragraphs into this article. It says that the source was a fake site with a logo that closely resembles ABC News.
But yesterday's story really is on the official NBA site, and since it's been there for more than 18 hours now, I think it's safe to conclude that it's real and not hacked.
Eric