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Hornets Believe Organization Better-Suited For '19 NBA All-Star Game Than '17

The NBA yesterday formally awarded the '19 All-Star Game back to Charlotte, and Hornets Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Pete Guelli said the team is poised to take greater advantage of the NBA’s marquee event than it would have been this year had it not been moved to New Orleans due to the now-repealed HB2 law. Guelli said, “We are in a better position to host than we were in 2017. There are more hotel rooms online and we are in the process of completing arena renovations that would not have been done for the 2017 game, specifically a new retail store in the building.” Other arena improvements include an upgraded wi-fi system and a new retail/concessions point-of-sale system. The Hornets had drawn strong support from area sponsors for the '17 game. Now, the team expects to increase the level of corporate support. “We had 15 sponsors for the first time and it now gives us a chance to add additional sponsors to the roster,” Guelli said (John Lombardo, Staff Writer). In Charlotte, Bonnell & Peralta note the NBA's announcement "followed nearly a year of heavy lifting by Charlotte business leaders to broker a deal" on HB2. Hornets President & COO Fred Whitfield "made so many trips to Raleigh over the last year that he started carpooling with other city business leaders." He said that it was not "just the All-Star Game" at stake, but the Hornets’ "responsibility to bring other business to the Spectrum Center, as well as Charlotte’s reputation overall." North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in March signed a compromise bill that repealed HB2 but "banned local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances for three years." Many argue that the measure "doesn’t go far enough in addressing non-discrimination." In a statement yesterday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged the concerns of skeptics, but said the new bill "eliminates the most egregious aspects of the prior law" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/25). 

STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
: In Charlotte, Scott Fowler writes, "Does this mean that the fight over HB2 -- or its replacement, HB142 -- is over? No." What the ASG "does do is symbolically show a lot of the United States that has derided North Carolina for its backward-thinking 'bathroom bill' that things have changed, at least enough for the forward-thinking NBA to believe in Charlotte and North Carolina once again." The ASG will be a "showcase unlike anything the city has seen since hosting the Democratic National Convention" in '12. Fowler writes landing the game is a "symbolic step in restoring our stained reputation" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/25). 

STILL IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE
: ESPN's Rachel Nichols noted while some lawmakers called HB142 a "repeal ... it was just the old law with a few things taken out." Nichols: "Apparently, this was enough for the NBA.” She said, “It is an unfortunate reality: Every state has laws on the books that are oppressive to someone. They cannot hold the All-Star Game on a boat in the middle of the Pacific. … I do appreciate that the update to the law allows the NBA to insert equality provisions into their private contracts with their vendors. So basically, everyone associated with the All-Star Game will be now held accountable to maintaining customers' basic civil rights, and I trust the NBA to do that" (“The Jump,” ESPN, 5/24). SI.com's Jon Tayler wrote Silver and the NBA have "given weight to a replacement bill just as cruel and restrictive as its predecessor and struck a compromise that turns its back on the LGBT community." Silver's words in the press release announcing the move "suggest that the NBA doesn’t have a full grasp on exactly what the new bill means; if anything, discrimination is now effectively on the books in North Carolina." Tayler: "It’s a strange misstep for a league that has been at the forefront of social issues since Silver took over as commissioner in 2014" (SI.com, 5/24).

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