After hinting last week that the NBA might pull the All-Star game out of Charlotte in response to a new anti-LGBTQ law, commissioner Adam Silver laid it on the line yesterday for state lawmakers: repeal the law or lose the 2017 All-Star game.
“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 told reporters at the Associated Press Sports Editors’ commissioner meetings according to The Charlotte Observer.
Silver called the law “problematic,” but said he is confident legislators will “do the right thing” and repeal the law. He cautioned that the NBA is more interested in working with state government to get rid of the discriminatory law rather than issuing ultimatums.
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“They know what’s at stake in terms of the All-Star Game. But 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,’” Silver said.
