NBA Offseason News, Trades and Signings: Charlotte Grabs Chance at Hosting 2019 All-Star Weekend
With the 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend completely out of their hands, the Charlotte Hornets are trying for another opportunity at the coveted event.
The league is reportedly leaving the door open for the Queen City to host the 2019 event, on one condition—North Carolina should address their issues on the controversial House Bill 2.
A second chance
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The Charlotte Observer reported that the Charlotte City Council is set to offer the same incentives to the NBA as those agreed upon for 2017, should they be allowed to host the weekend two years later.
This guarantees that the city, along with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, will jointly shoulder $600,000 in expenses for the planned activities.
The 2018 All-Star events, meanwhile, have already been awarded to Los Angeles.
Trouble in Queen City
These agreements follow NBA's decision to stand firm with their recent moves, awarding the 2017 events to New Orleans and the Pelicans.
The American basketball league pulled the events out of Charlotte due to a controversial legislation approved by the state of North Carolina, which puts heavy restrictions on the rights of the LGBT community, particularly transgender people.
The law, effective since March, restricts citizens of North Carolina to using bathrooms assigned to the gender on their birth certificate.
The league acknowledges that it cannot choose the legal situation in each city or state they deal with. However, they "do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," said the NBA in a statement.
One might remember that Jason Collins, a retired NBA center, became the first openly gay player when he came out in November 2014.
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, a firm supporter of the bill, expressed his disdain for the move, as well as criticism from "left-wing special interest groups."
The league and the Hornets team were reportedly negotiating with the state to amend the law, after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued an early warning, but the league did not give any deadline prior to the agreement's cancellation.
Business crackdown
The event's move, however, did not only affect Charlotte basketball fans, but the business environment in the city as well.
Establishments, especially hotels, were expecting a boom in sales following the announcement of the All-Star Weekend. Now they are struggling to cope with massive losses in February, when they could be anticipating tens of thousands of rooms to sell out during the weekend.
The 66th All-Star Weekend are set to start at February 19 in New Orleans, which had previously hosted the events in 2008 and 2014.
