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The National Basketball Association announced Thursday it will move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, to protest against the state’s discriminatory laws against LGBTQ, particularly transgender people.
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WNBA Players Reaffirm Black Lives Matter Support Despite Fines
“Our weeklong schedule of All-Star events and activities is intended to be a global celebration of basketball, our league, and the values for which we stand,” said the NBA in a statement.
“While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Stars festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2,” said the statement.
HB2 refers to the statewide law passed in March in North Carolina that requires people to use public bathrooms of the gender listed on their birth certificate.
This announcement came days after the WNBA fined the Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury and their players for wearing black warmup shirts in the wake of recent shootings of Black people by police officers, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement..
The t-shirts read “Change starts with us—Justice & Accountability," as well as the names of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, who were both fatally shot by police recently, followed by "Black Lives Matter."
Tina Charles, New York Liberty player and current WNBA player of the month said, "The fact that I have some power, I use that as a sounding board to reflect what Adam Silver is saying, that you should use your platform to show how you feel, especially in the crisis that we have right now."
The All-Star Game will be held in February 2017 and the new location will be announced next week by the NBA.
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