Opposing player wants Hawks to cancel Magic City Night

An opposing NBA player thinks the Atlanta Hawks are out of line for deciding to hold a night in honor of the Magic City strip club.

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet called on the Hawks to cancel their planned Magic City tribute night, which is scheduled for March 16 against the Orlando Magic. The night is to include music and exclusive merchandise, as well as the club’s famous lemon pepper wings.

Kornet argued, however, that the event is demeaning to women and should be canceled.

“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,” Kornet wrote on his Medium account Monday. “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.”

Kornet added that there were others in the NBA who “were surprised by and object to the Hawks’ decision.”

Magic City is undeniably an Atlanta-area institution. Lou Williams infamously left the Orlando bubble for their wings in 2020, which made the place something of a viral meme. The Hawks were trying to tap into that, but the decision to do so has attracted some controversy.