Boycotts hurt wrong people
Following his MVP performance in the nearly unwatchable NBA All-Star game last Sunday, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis had an admission: before the game he had actually lobbied his teammates to help him win the award.
“I stressed that, I think more than enough, to the guys in the locker room before the game that I wanted to get the MVP for this crowd, for this city, and I ended up doing it,” said Davis, after shattering the All-Star Game scoring record with 52 points.
But Davis doesn't have his teammates to thank — nor should he thank his "opponents," who, in a game that featured not a whisper of defense, guarded Davis as if he had a bomb strapped to his chest. For playing in front of his home fans in New Orleans, Davis should send his game check to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory.
Last year, the NBA moved the 2017 All-Star Game to New Orleans as a reaction to North Carolina's passage of a "bathroom bill" requiring citizens to use the restroom that corresponds with their biological gender. The game had been scheduled to take place in Charlotte, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver moved it, costing the city an estimated $100 million in economic activity.
Regardless of what one thinks of North Carolina's law, sports leagues blackmailing states to change laws enacted by their legislatures is a pointless endeavor that serves to harm those who may be ideologically aligned with the cause. It was actually the City of Charlotte that enacted a pro-transgender ordinance requiring bathrooms to be open to both genders; it was the state legislature that reacted by passing the now-infamous "HB2," requiring citizens to use the bathroom associated with their biological gender.
What message does the NBA think it's sending, then, by punishing Charlotte, which passed the pro-transgender ordinance in the first place? A great number of the people who are being hurt are the city's residents who love NBA basketball and oppose HB2; you could march every weekend in favor of repeal of the law, but if you own a business in the city, you probably missed out on a good bit of revenue last weekend.
Suppose you're a dad in Charlotte who is not engaged in politics at all, but wanted to take his kid to finally get a glimpse of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Or say you're an arena candy vendor sapped of a paycheck for now-nonexistent All-Star weekend. How does it help the NBA to punish you for the actions of a few lawmakers at the state level, especially when it has frequently held All-Star games in cities with no transgender protections? These boycotts are targeting the wrong people.
Further, exactly how is the league going to decide on which issues which it takes these stands? Are the 21 states with Religious Freedom Restoration Acts modeled after the federal law (and supported heavily by Democrats in the early 1990s) now on the boycott list? As of this week, there had been 88 homicides and 468 shooting victims in Chicago; would the league dare withhold a game there until the violence subsides, or is its cultural conscience reserved for people who crave to be free to urinate where they want?
Ultimately, change only will come to North Carolina when the state's voters elect different lawmakers — this process appears to be underway, as McCrory lost his re-election bid in November. Until that political realignment takes place, the NBA shouldn't pretend it's making any positive difference to anyone other than Anthony Davis. Before it solves discrimination in America, perhaps the league should get to work providing an All-Star game that's watchable.