NBA pulls plug on Atlanta Hawks’ strip club promotional night

NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association (NBA) has cancelled the Atlanta Hawks’ collaboration with Magic City, a local strip club, ending what would have been a first-of-its-kind promotional night in professional basketball.

In February, the Hawks announced the partnership before their highly anticipated match against the Orlando Magic on March 16, describing it as “a one-night collaboration to celebrate the city’s iconic cultural institution”.

However, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the league had scrapped the Hawks’ planned “Magic City Monday” promotion following feedback from league stakeholders, calling it “the right decision for the broader NBA community”.

“When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale,” he said in a statement on March 9.

“While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees. I believe cancelling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community.”

Magic City is a prominent adult entertainment club in Atlanta with strong ties to the rap and hip-hop music industry. The unusual partnership raised eyebrows across the league – including players – before Silver stepped in to halt the promotion.

The backlash began when San Antonio Spurs centre Luke Kornet published an open letter calling on the NBA to cancel the night, noting that the Hawks had quietly left out the fact that Magic City is, as it bills itself, “Atlanta’s premier strip club”.

He argued that the collaboration risked the NBA “being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society”.

Kornet also said the NBA sought to “provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience”.

“The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision,” he wrote.

Kornet’s letter garnered support from his former Celtics teammate Al Horford, who plays for the Golden State Warriors but began his career at the Hawks, sharing the letter on X.

However, not everyone was opposed.

Lou Williams, the former Hawks guard who inadvertently made Magic City famous nationwide after sneaking out of the NBA’s Covid-19 bubble in 2020 on a chicken wing run, earning him the nickname “Lemon Pepper Lou”, said he was in favour of the promotion – while acknowledging some people “won’t understand it”.

The Hawks had even planned to honour the moment with a “Lou Will Lemon Pepper BBQ” flavour on the menu at State Farm Arena. REUTERS, AFP