UPDATE (5:30 p.m. ET): The 2017 NBA All-Star Game no longer will be held in Charlotte.
The NBA announced Thursday that it will relocate the game due to North Carolina’s anti-LGBT House Bill 2. A new venue for the All-Star Game will be determined at a later date.
Charlotte Hornets chairman Michael Jordan and the team also commented on the NBA’s decision with the following statement:
“We understand the NBA’s decision and the challenges around holding the NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte this season. There was an exhaustive effort from all parties to keep the event in Charlotte, and we are disappointed we were unable to do so. With that said, we are pleased that the NBA opened the door for Charlotte to host All-Star Weekend again as soon as an opportunity was available in 2019.
“We want to thank the City of Charlotte and the business community for their backing throughout this entire process, starting with the initial bid. We are confident that they will be just as supportive and enthusiastic for the 2019 NBA All-Star Game.”
ORIGINAL STORY: North Carolina’s failure to change laws discriminating against the LGBT community reportedly will cost its state the 2017 NBA All-Star Game.
The NBA is pulling next year’s All-Star Game from Charlotte and plans to move the festivities to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, league sources told The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday.
The NBA’s decision is a reaction to North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which passed through state legislature in March. The bill requires transgender people to only use public restrooms that correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificates. House Bill 2 also removes anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, queer and transgender people in North Carolina and prevents members of the LGBT community from filing workplace discrimination lawsuits.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver threatened to move the All-Star Game from North Carolina if the bill wasn’t amended and attempted to work with the state to make changes that would provide more rights to the LGBT community. But North Carolina hasn’t budged, and according to Wojnarowski, time has run out to reach a compromise.
New Orleans is the frontrunner to host the All-Star Weekend events, which run from Feb. 17 to 19. But a few other cities reportedly also are interested in hosting, and the league even discussed having the All-Star Game in Las Vegas, per Wojnarowski’s source.
The league could make an announcement pulling the game from Charlotte as early as this week, Wojnarowski reports.
Thumbnail photo via Sam Sharpe/USA TODAY Sports Images
