The NBA has been pretty steadfast in its resolve against the anti-LGBT law that was passed in North Carolina last month.
The law effectively blocks measures to protect the LGBT community from discrimination in the southern state.
It has drawn a widespread backlash from a loud American public since being voted into law back in March.
The NBA itself had pretty much indicated that it would not a hold an All-Star game in conditions where fans and certain members of the Association would be directly impacted by the discriminatory practices.
Commissioner Adam Silver reiterated this in a conversation with the media on Thursday:
‘We’ve been, I think, crystal clear a change in the law is necessary for us to play in the kind of environment that we think is appropriate for a celebratory NBA event,” Silver said, via Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. “But if we did have some time and that if the view of the people who were allied with us in terms of a change, if their view, the people on the ground in North Carolina, was that the situation would best be served by us not setting a deadline, we would not set a deadline at this time.”
That long-winded response pretty much means that the NBA will not hold the 2017 All-Star game in North Carolina if this law remains in place. Though, the league will give those leaders in that state time to backtrack from this archaic law.
More so than any of the other four major professional sports in North America, the NBA has represented an ideology of inclusion in the recent past. So it’s not necessarily a surprise that Silver would take a hard-line approach.
It also wouldn’t be surprising if lawmakers in North Carolina decide to reverse this policy at some point in the not-so-distant future.
Though, that’s unlikely to come simply because of a threat by the NBA to avoid the state for its annual All-Star game next year.