NBA Player Calls for Hawks to Cancel Magic City Promotional Night

Last week the Hawks announced an addition to their promotional schedule, saying that March 16 would be "Magic City Monday," which will feature a halftime performance from T.I.. With the Orlando Magic in town the home team announced they would be honoring one of Atlanta's "iconic cultural institutions.”

That institution is Magic City, the strip club famous for—among other things—lemon pepper chicken wings so good that Lou Williams had to miss games in the NBA bubble because he stopped in before traveling to Orlando.

In addition to the kitchen at Magic City, there are also strippers, which is the reason people have a problem with the promotion. One of those people is Spurs big man Luke Kornet, who wrote an open letter to the league on Monday asking for the Hawks to cancel the event.

Via LukeKornet.medium.com:

The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world. We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.

Allowing this night to go forward without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.

Regardless of how a woman finds her way into the adult entertainment industry, many in this space experience abuse, harassment, and violence to which they should never be subjected.

With a player speaking out, the league might have to respond, but the Hawks seem unlikely to change their minds. As David Aldridge points out in The Athletic, one of the team's co-owners, Jamie Gertz, is an executive producer on the STARZ docuseries about Magic City that the event will also be promoting.

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