The NBA has been clear that it will not stand for the discrimination of fans that support its brand.
Commissioner Adam Silver has also continued to rail against an anti-LGBT law in North Carolina that discriminates against a certain sector of society.
So it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that the NBA is on the brink of moving the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte in protest of the law.
Sources: NBA on brink of pulling 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, with New Orleans emerging as a front-runner to host Feb. 19 game.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 21, 2016
Silver himself concluded back in April that if North Carolina didn’t change its law, the NBA would indeed move the game.
“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,” the commissioner said. “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.”
It appears that deadline is right about now.
Silver has led the NBA to a new era in which it hasn’t remained quiet on the most substantive issues surrounding American society. It’s this type of progression that has made the Association a model for other leagues around the United States.
For the NBA, it’ all about inclusion. If those who support its brand are being discriminated against by outside forces — situations that directly involve the NBA — it’s simply not going to sit idly by. Holding the All-Star Game in North Carolina would have done just that.