Although the NBA says it doesn't yet have any plans to move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, NBA commissioner Adam Silver suggested Thursday that may very well happen if the state doesn't change its recently passed anti-LGBT law. "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," Silver said, referring to the recent legislation that removes anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people and also requires transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificates.
The league is "working very closely with the business community down there and the governor and the legislature to make it clear that it would be problematic," Silver said.
"I believe they're going to do the right thing," the commissioner said. "And I think they've heard loud and clearly from the NBA, they know what's at stake in terms of the All-Star Game ... but I think at least at the moment, constructive engagement on our part is the best way to go as opposed to putting a gun to their head and saying 'Do this, or else.'"
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A bipartisan group of six U.S. senators has already asked the NBA to move the game if North Carolina doesn't change its law.
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