© 2024 Blue Ridge Public Radio
Blue Ridge Mountains banner background
Your source for information and inspiration in Western North Carolina.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

NBA: Charlotte Eligible To Host All-Star Game Again

Rachel Seibel walks past signage being put up in preparation for the NBA All Star Game festivities this weekend, in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. Charlotte won't be a ghost town this weekend, but it sure won't be buzzing like many had hoped.
Gerald Herbert
/
AP
Rachel Seibel walks past signage being put up in preparation for the NBA All Star Game festivities this weekend, in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. Charlotte won't be a ghost town this weekend, but it sure won't be buzzing like many had hoped.

Civil and human rights groups are decrying the NBA’s decision to make Charlotte eligible again to host the league's All-Star game.The NBA announced Friday that since North Carolina lawmakers repealed and replaced House Bill 2, Charlotte would be eligible to host the All-Star game in 2019.

The league had pulled the event from Charlotte this year because of the so-called bathroom bill.

Related: A State Divided: HB2 & Transgender Rights

But the Human Rights Campaign and Equality NC issued a joint statement saying it was "deeply disappointing" to see North Carolina rewarded for "doubling down on discrimination."

The law that replaced HB2 prevents local governments from adopting LGBT anti-discrimination measures until 2020.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday the league's Board of Governors discussed it during their meetings this week and made what was "not an easy decision."

He said it's "not a done deal" that Charlotte will get the game, because the league would need assurances of anti-discriminatory policies for venues that would host its events and hotels they would use.

But Silver said it is his "expectation" that Charlotte would get the game if those assurances were met. He said those requirements would need to be met within about the next month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio

Rusty Jacobs is a politics reporter for WUNC. Rusty previously worked at WUNC as a reporter and substitute host from 2001 until 2007 and now returns after a nine-year absence during which he went to law school at Carolina and then worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Wake County.
Related Content