After months of threatening to move next season’s All-Star game out of Charlotte, the NBA is making good on its promise.
The NBA has confirmed that the league will move the game in response to a controversial North Carolina bill that requires transgender people to use the restroom that corresponds to their birth gender.
"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-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," the NBA said in a statement on Thursday.
Sources: NBA on brink of pulling 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, with New Orleans emerging as a front-runner to host Feb. 19 game.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 21, 2016
Shortly after North Carolina pass House Bill 2 in February, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that the NBA would move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to a city that doesn’t have a similar “problematic” law.
The NBA also said in its statement that the league hopes to hold the All-Star Game in Charlotte in 2019 "provided there is a appropriate resolution to this matter."
Yahoo's The Vertical says that the NBA is considering awarding the 2017 All-Star Game to New Orleans. The All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on Feb. 19.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
