Will the wild, promotional night be over before it can actually ever begin? In case you didn’t hear, there’s currently somewhat of a controversy brewing in the NBA. It’s not out of norm for sports franchises to partner with other organizations for special, promotional nights. Stuff like that often helps get fans through the doors, and at the end of the day, the Atlanta Hawks are just trying to sell tickets.
The only issue with this specific promotion? The business the Hawks are partnering with is a famous, Atlanta strip club.
As of right now, March 16 is set to be “Magic City Monday” at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. For the uninitiated, “Magic City” has nothing to do with magic tricks or magicians. That’s actually a reference to the Magic City Adult Entertainment Club (A.K.A. strip club) that is famous in the ATL – and became world famous when an NBA player broke COVID protocol to go there for some chicken wings (shoutout Lou Williams).
Magic City and the Atlanta Hawks have always been unofficially affiliated… but this promotional night marks the first time that the two organizations – an NBA franchise and a strip joint (that also sells wings) – went official with their relationship:
“Magic on a Monday? Featuring T.I. halftime performance, Magic City Kitchen’s ‘World Famous’ wings, pregame set by DJ Esco, co-branded hoodie, and a live recording of the Hawks AF podcast.”
It really is hard to believe that’s real.
You would think that the NBA and the Atlanta Hawks would want to keep things family friendly. Obviously, the Hawks aren’t planning on having strippers do anything as a part of the promotional night. As you saw in the post above, it’s the wings that Magic City serves that will be highlighted on March 16.
But still, the Atlanta Hawks associating themselves with a strip club (at the base of things, that’s what Magic City started as and is) has ruffled some feathers. So much so that an active NBA player – Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs – penned an open letter to the NBA today asking that the league step in and cancel the promotional night:
“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.
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.”
So now, the world waits to see if the NBA will, in fact, step in to put a stop to “Magic City Monday.”
If the league is going to choose to cancel the promotion, they’ll need to do so sooner rather than later. March 16 is exactly two weeks away, and I’m sure all parties that are involved have already started ramping up the planning and preparation for the big night. And all signs are pointing towards the Atlanta Hawks not backing down from their partnership with Magic City.
