In July, the league announced it was removing the game from Charlotte because of North Carolina’s HB2.
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The game was previously scheduled to be played in Charlotte, N.C., but National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver made a decision to move it because of North Carolina’s controversial HB2 law, which limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people. It will be the 66th NBA All-Star Game in league history and the third time it has been hosted by New Orleans.
“‘We embrace our rich cultural heritage and see our diversity as a virtue”, Edwards wrote. The NBA is willing to turn a blind eye and play games in countries, like the People’s Republic of China, that regularly oppress their own citizens.
In the almost five months since North Carolina Gov. McCrory and state lawmakers rammed HB2 into law, the economic fallout has continued to grow as companies concerned with protecting their consumers and employees have moved conventions, trainings, operations, productions, and other events out of state.
The league hopes to reschedule the game for Charlotte in 2019.
New Orleans last hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 2014, and again in 2008, the city’s first major professional sporting event after Hurricane Katrina. But the order hasn’t been challenged in court, and Edwards has vowed to follow it. The 2017 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for February 19. New Orleans also bid unsuccessfully to host one of the NCAA Final Fours between 2017 and 2021.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported earlier this summer that New York, Brooklyn and Chicago were other cities that were in the running as replacements. The 2014 All-Star Game generated over $100 million in economic impact for the State of Louisiana and the greater New Orleans area. It seems likely that New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis will be selected for the game and will play in front of his hometown fans, assuming he recovers from his injuries and stays mostly healthy.
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Critics point to the league’s two upcoming games in China, which bans religions not organized by the state and limits women to two children via compulsory abortion practices, as proof of hypocrisy.
