The Atlanta Hawks will not be canceling their “Magic City Monday” event despite public pushback from NBA players.
If you’re not familiar with the story, the Hawks announced last week that their March 16 game against the Magic will be preceded by a celebration of Atlanta’s “iconic cultural institution Magic City.”
“Prior to the game, the Hawks’ Principal Owner, filmmaker, and actor Jami Gertz will present a special introduction of the Hawks AF Podcast,” the press release stated. “Last year, Magic City celebrated 40 years with a five-part STARZ docuseries, ‘Magic City: An American Fantasy’ produced by Gertz alongside Grammy Award-winning music mogul and Atlanta native Jermaine Dupri.”
The press release left out the part about Magic City being a strip club. Luke Kornet, the Spurs’ backup center, published a blog this week taking issue with that fact.
“I would like to respectfully ask that the Atlanta Hawks cancel this promotional night with Magic City,” Kornet wrote.
“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.
“I’d like to encourage the league, its owners, employees and fans to hold the Atlanta Hawks to a higher standard of what they find worthy of promoting.”
Golden State Warriors center Al Horford took to social media to voice his support of Kornet’s statement.
On Tuesday at San Antonio’s shoot-around in Philadelphia, Kornet elaborated on his reasoning for writing the blog and said that he hasn’t spoken with anyone in the league since it was published.
“I really just saw the statement last week, the announcement by the Hawks. Just in terms of like the public voice as it pertained to, I feel like it didn’t really represent what I know myself and a lot of others throughout the NBA felt,” Kornet said. “I think I did just want to make sure that part of the discussion is expressed.”
The Hawks are 31-31 on the season and currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
