Charlotte Hornets: Addressing All-Star Game Situation

The Charlotte Hornets are supposed to host the All-Star Game in 2017. Will the NBA take it away after the state of North Carolina passed a controversial new law?

Charlotte Hornets fans have plenty of things to be excited about this season. Kemba Walker is having the best season of his career. New additions like Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lin have exceeded expectations and the team is making a serious push towards landing home court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

While 2016-17 remains a question mark due to several contract situations; one thing still has Hornets fans excited. Time Warner Cable Arena was selected to host the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. Of course, it’s more than just the game.

It’s an entire weekend of events that includes the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, the Rising Stars Challenge, the Skills Challenge, the Three-Point Contest, and the Slam Dunk Contest.

The last time it was held in Charlotte was 1991. That weekend brought us this iconic moment. What will we remember from Charlotte All-Star Weekend 2.0? Hornets fans are eager to find out.

The event is a little less than a year away, but fans are already excited for the big event. I attended the game just after they released the new All-Star 2017 gear. Twenty minutes before the game fans were lined up all the way to the door of the team store just to buy an All-Star T-shirt or hat.

However, recent events have created s ome doubt that Charlotte will actually host the event. On March 23, North Carolina’s General Assembly passed a complicated and convoluted bill into law that essentially takes away legal protection from discrimination from the LGBT community. It’s drawn significant criticism across the country.

Some have even claimed that it makes North Carolina the least LGBT friendly state in America.

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The bill was fast=tracked and passed quickly after the city of Charlotte passed a nondiscrimination law in February that would have allowed transgender individuals the right to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as. Here is what Charlotte Observer writer Steve Harrison had to say about the law passing.

"The impetus of the special session was a provision in Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that would allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender with which they identify. Critics said it was “social engineering” to allow people born as biological males into women’s restrooms. They said legislation was needed to correct Charlotte’s “overreach” and to protect the safety of women and children.The bill prohibits any such bathroom flexibility.But it also will keep Charlotte and any other municipality from adding new protections for gays, lesbians or transgender individuals.In North Carolina today, there are no legal protections for gays and lesbians. That means a private business in Charlotte or anywhere else in the state can refuse to serve someone who is gay, and a bakery could refuse to make a cake for a wedding of a gay couple."

Those that had a hand in crafting the bill, and Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed it into law, paint the law as something to protect bathrooms from predators, but in reality it is a rather transparent attack on the LGBT community. The NBA has already recognized that, leading to questions about whether they will remove All-Star Weekend from Charlotte.

The NBA released a statement essentially distancing itself from the language in the bill, but they did not say whether or not they would pull the All-Star Game from Charlotte.

NBA statement regarding legislation recently signed into law in North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/4qHDAv8wlT
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) March 24, 2016

Would the NBA actually move the All-Star Game? If they want to truly make a difference, they will. Otherwise these words are just words. A hollow statement to help their public relations, but a statement that ultimately accomplishes nothing. The NBA can only enact change through action.

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You might be wondering why it’s the NBA’s place to get involved with something like this. Yes, plenty of other states have laws like this, including Indiana, and the NBA has not removed franchises from cities with policies they don’t like, why should they start now?

All-Star Weekend is the NBA’s showcase event. It’s a celebration of the league and all the good things about it. What kind of message does it send to your LGBT fans if you hold your league’s marquee event in a state that just legalized discrimination? It’s not a political issue, it’s a respect issue and it’s a human rights issue.

I say all this as a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and North Carolina native. The last time Charlotte hosted the All-Star Game I wasn’t even born yet. I only know what I have seen on YouTube or have read about the game.

I want the full experience of having a major event like this in my home state. I am already planning on attempting to land tickets to the Rising Stars Game (it seems like the easiest ticket to grab, right?).

I don’t want the game taken away from the state of North Carolina, but at this point do we really deserve it? We elected these politicians and they made decisions that make our state look like an embarrassment to the rest of the country and, quite frankly, the rest of the world. Human rights are more important than basketball.

If the NBA decides to move the event to send a message, then I’m in favor of that.

The Charlotte Observer noted that the event is expected to bring $100 million to the state of North Carolina. Perhaps if the state gets slapped in the wallet its politicians will attempt to hold back their bigotry when it comes to lawmaking. Probably not, but a guy can dream.

The NBA has a chance to make a huge statement against discrimination. It sounds crazy that such a statement has to be made, but that’s the world we live in.

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An organization like the NBA making statement like this could give the other large companies the confidence to do the same. Money talks, maybe North Carolina would listen.

Adam Silver handled the Donald Sterling situation about as well as he possibly could have. He’s proven to be an excellent commissioner during his brief tenure. This is another chance for him and the NBA to be on the right side of history.

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