NBA cancels Hawks’ planned Magic City promotion in collaboration with local strip club
Luke Kornet and other former and current NBA players were vocal opponents of the Atlanta Hawks’ planned game-night collaboration with local strip club Magic City celebrating the “iconic cultural institution.“
The NBA is in agreement. The league announced on Monday that the Hawks, in fact, will not move forward with the “Magic City Monday” promotion scheduled for their March 16 home game against the Orlando Magic.
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The NBA announced the decision by the league to cancel the promotion in a news release from the league office Monday with a statement from commissioner Adam Silver.
“When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale,” Silver’s statement reads. “While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concern from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees.
“I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community.”
Hawks ‘disappointed’ in NBA’s decision
The Hawks released a statement in response expressing their “disappointment” in the decision.
“While we are very disappointed in the NBA’s decision to cancel our Magic City Night promotion, we fully respect its decision.
“As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta — with authenticity — in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together.”
The team announcement promoting “Magic City Monday” that’s hosted on NBA.com remained live as of the time of the NBA’s statement canceling it.
What the debate is about
Magic City is, indeed, a cultural institution in Atlanta. Former Hawk Lou Williams was openly and proudly a frequent patron of the club, which is known as much for its wings as its entertainment offerings. Magic City’s menu now features “LouWill” lemon pepper wings named after the former Hawks guard.
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Variations of those wings were also on the menu for the Hawks’ planned “Magic City Monday” promotion. Also planned for the now-canceled promotion were a halftime performance from Atlanta rapper T.I. and a “limited-edition Peachtree-themed hoodie” emblazoned with “‘MAGIC CITY’” available for purchase at the team store on game night.
Nude entertainment was not on the menu.
Wings, T.I. still on; podcast and hoodie are not
In a statement confirming the cancelation to fans who’d purchased tickets to the game, the Hawks announced a revised plan for Monday’s promotion. T.I. will still perform, and wings will be available.
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The Peachtree-themed hoodie will no longer be for sale on game night. And a pregame podcast that planned to feature a conversation about a documentary on Magic City “and the impact of the club on Atlanta music, sports, and culture” featuring feature Magic City founder Michael “Mr. Magic” Barney will no longer take place.
Here’s the revised agenda, per the Hawks:
Legendary rapper and ‘King of the South’ T.I. will perform at halftime as scheduled.
The limited-edition Peachtree themed hoodie will no longer be available for purchase at the game on March 16th. All pre-ordered merchandise will be honored and delivered as previously scheduled.
The live recording of the Hawks AF Podcast including Hawks’ Principal Owner, filmmaker, and actor Jami Gertz, T.I. and Magic City founder Michael “Mr. Magic” Barney has been cancelled. Fans who purchased tickets to the recording will be contacted directly.
The full array of award-winning culinary options available at State Farm Arena for Hawks games will be available, including wings.
Backlash that preceded NBA’s decision
The NBA did not identify the “stakeholders” who approached the league with concerns about the promotion. Kornet, a center for the San Antonio Spurs, was certainly one of them. And he wasn’t alone.
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Kornet felt strongly enough last week to voice his concerns about the promotion planned for a game between the Hawks and Magic 1,000 miles away from San Antonio. Kornet wrote a blog post on the subject he headlined “Concerning the Atlanta Hawks.” In it, he requested that “the Atlanta Hawks cancel this promotional night with Magic City.”
“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,” Kornet wrote. “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.”
At the time, Kornet was the only public NBA voice raising concern about the promotion. Warriors forward Al Horford, who played nine seasons for the Hawks, reposted Kornet’s blog post on social media.
“Well said Luke,” Horford wrote.
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Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson also backed Kornet’s criticism of the promotion while speaking on the Road Trippin’ podcast. He said that he wouldn’t want to take his 9- and 11-year old children to such a promotion.
“I’m going to side with Luke Kornet,” Jefferson said. “Magic City, everybody has the ability to do whatever they choose. Spend their money how they choose. …
“I think that the NBA can partner with whoever they choose, but I understand what Luke Kornet is saying. Especially at a very delicate time in women’s rights. … But women’s rights is also the ability to go do that. …
“That’s 1970s basketball. That’s old. I think we’re above that. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with it. But I don’t think it aligns with the brand.”
Magic City made its case
Magic City manager JuJu Barney and Yaya, a dancer at the club, spoke up in support of the promotion in an interview with TMZ last Wednesday in response to the initial backlash.
“Magic City’s been a staple in Atlanta for 40 years now,” Barney said. “It’s bigger than strip. It’s more of an iconic place where anybody who’s a CEO, an NBA player, a politician, actresses, actors — they all come, and they’re all normal when they come here.”
Barney likened the club to “an adult version of Cirque du Soleil.”
Yaya addressed Kornet’s initial blog post directly.
“I honestly feel like where he’s coming from is a good space and he’s coming from his heart and he’s doing what’s right,” she said. … “I don’t feel used, I don’t feel degraded. And I feel like this collaboration honestly is more of a celebratory energy than anything that he’s trying to make it seem like it is.”
At that point, the Hawks announced that they had no plans to change the promotion. Since then, the NBA has intervened.
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