SILVER’S TAKE ON TEXAS.
NEW ORLEANS — While lauding the work of New Orleans to take on the NBA All-Star Game after the league pulled its events from Charlotte because of House Bill 2, which limited anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people in the state, NBA commissioner Adam Silver did not sound eager to take those steps again.
Silver said the NBA will closely monitor similar legislation pending in Texas and other states when considering bids to host future All-Star Weekends and its many related events.
The Rockets have prepared bids to host either the 2020 or 2021 All-Star Weekend, a person with knowledge of the process said on the condition of anonymity because the effort had not been announced publicly.
“In terms of laws in other jurisdictions, it’s something we continue to monitor very closely,” Silver said. “You know, I’m not ready to draw bright lines. Clearly, though, the laws of the state, ordinances, and cities are a factor we look at in deciding where to play our All-Star Games.”
‘Important factor’
Texas Senate Bill 6, a measure filed last month, would require transgender individuals to use bathrooms in public schools and government buildings based on “biological sex.” It also would pre-empt local nondiscrimination ordinances, such as Houston’s defeated HERO ordinance, that would allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
There are differences between Texas SB-6 and North Carolina’s HB-2, but Silver was not prepared to indicate if those differences would open the way for the NBA to award the All-Star Weekend to Houston. The 2013 events in Houston generated roughly $60 million in direct spending and close to $100 million in economic impact, according to the Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau. Because of downtown development since, estimates are that an event in 2020 would generate much greater spending.
“We’d have to look at the specific legislation and understand its impact,” Silver said. “I mean, I’m not ready to stand here today and say that that is the bright line test for whether or not we will play All-Star Games in Texas. It’s something we’re, of course, going to monitor very closely.
“What we’ve stated is that our values, our leaguewide values in terms of equality and inclusion are paramount to this league and all the members of the NBA family, and I think those jurisdictions that are considering legislation similar to HB2 are on notice that that is an important factor for us. Those values are an important factor for us in deciding where we take a special event like an All-Star Game.”
Unlike HB-2, Texas’ SB-6 includes an exemption for publicly owned arenas, such as Toyota Center, and stadiums, and convention centers. The NBA has not indicated whether those differences would be sufficient to award the All Star game to a Texas city.
The 2018 All-Star Game will be in Los Angeles. If HB-2 is defeated, the NBA hopes to hold the event in Charlotte in 2019.
“I have talked to Governor (Roy) Cooper, the new Governor of North Carolina since he was elected, really to express our desire to return to North Carolina … for our All-Star Game. Certainly, his position, when he was running for office, was anti-HB2, the bill that ultimately led to our leaving. So I really was talking to him more to understand, from his standpoint, how he was hoping to move forward in terms of changing that law.”
Travel ban concerns
Silver had said he was pleased with the growing of the international presence in the NBA, but is concerned in general with President Trump’s executive order creating a travel ban.
“I do have concern about travel bans,” Silver said. “Putting aside the justification for them for a second because I don’t have access to the same intelligence obviously or security information that people in the government do, but we are a business based on global mobility. If you think about what the NBA stands for, it’s, in essence … the very best in the world all coming together to perform at the highest level.
“So government restrictions on travel, I am concerned about. It goes against the fundamental values and the fundamental ingredients of what make for a great NBA, and that is the very best in the world coming here. We have two NBA players that were born in the Sudan. So my personal view is that we need to look sort of at specific cases and see how that potentially could impact members of the NBA family.”