This week the Atlanta Hawks ?announced a special one-night collaboration to celebrate the city?s iconic cultural institution Magic City? during the team?s home game against Orlando on Monday, March 16. In its press release the Hawks failed to acknowledge that this place is, as the business itself boasts, ?Atlanta?s premier strip club.? Given this fact, I would like to respectfully ask that the Atlanta Hawks cancel this promotional night with Magic City. The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world. We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.
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Allowing this night to go forward without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society. Regardless of how a woman finds her way into the adult entertainment industry, many in this space experience abuse, harassment, and violence to which they should never be subjected.
I?d like to encourage the league, its owners, employees and fans to hold the Atlanta Hawks to a higher standard of what they find worthy of promoting. I and others throughout the league were surprised by and object to the Hawks? decision. We desire 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. Please join me in petitioning the Atlanta Hawks to cancel this promotion so as to ensure that the NBA remains a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment for everyone involved.
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I'm pretty surprised that Adam Silver is allowing this from an image perspective.
I saw this. I am a little surprised both that a team would have a special night to honor a strip club (which is perfectly legal) and also surprised that an NBA player would make a public comment about it. Also surprising is that a business like this would want all this publicity. Strip clubs are legal, but a lot of people are going to have problems with them, you would think. All those religious conservatives in the south, the women's rights types, the harder core ends of these constituencies.
I would think a strip club would prefer a kind of quiet existence, more of a don't ask don't tell kind of thing. Make is easier for the potential opposition to look the other way.
Personally, I have been to strip clubs of course. I was never a huge fan. There is an element of exploitation. I would not want a strip club in my neighborhood. But I also would not go out of my way to protest against them.
