NBA All- Star boycott hurt the wrong people

Following his MVP performance in the nearly unwatchable NBA All- Star Game on 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. For playing in front of his home fans in New Orleans, Davis should send his game check to former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory.

The NBA moved the game from Charlotte as a reaction to North Carolina’s passage of a “bathroom bill” requiring citizens to use the restroom that corresponds with their biological gender. This cost the city $ 100 million in economic activity last weekend, according to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.

It was actually the city of Charlotte that enacted a pro- transgender rights ordinance; it was the state legislature that reacted by passing the now- infamous HB2. What message does the NBA think it’s sending, then, by punishing Charlotte?

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 the now non- existent All- Star weekend. How does it help the NBA to punish you for the actions of a few state lawmakers, especially when it has frequently held All- Star games in cities with no transgender protections?

As a private business, the NBA has the right to put its special events wherever it wants. But whether it’s wise to play politics is a different story.

Further, exactly how is the league going to decide on which issues to take a stand? 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? Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups oppose those laws as ardently as they do North Carolina’s bathroom law.

There have been 88 homicides and 468 shooting victims in Chicago this year. Would the NBA withhold a game there until the violence subsides, or is its cultural conscience reserved for people who crave urinal freedom?

Ultimately, change will come to North Carolina only when voters elect different lawmakers. 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.