"Pro Court Report" Staff Report
The NBA is reportedly preparing to announce the relocation of the 2017 All-Star weekend from Charlotte in response to the state's anti-LGBT legislation
“The issue for us, and maybe this is different than where some of the other businesses find themselves in North Carolina, is that we have a team in North Carolina, and that distinction, for example, between the All-Star Game and the regular operation of a team is not clear to me,” NBA Commisioner Adam Silver said in April before a Charlotte Hornets home game. “I’m not sure what statement we’d be making about our team in North Carolina, if we now announced that the All-Star Game would not take place in North Carolina but our team continued to operate there.”
As recently as July 12, Silver said, “The question for us becomes in this situation, given the controversy, given the amount of discussion, given how hardened the views are there, is this the place we should be in February 2017 as the epicenter of global basketball where we can go and celebrate our game and our values?”
The law, which was passed by the state’s general assembly during a special session in March, bans local municipalities from enacting non-discriminatory ordinances designed to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The state’s general assembly had a chance at revising the bill before adjourning for the year but did not add any changes that appeased the NBA.
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