Charles Barkley wants the NBA to take a stand against North Carolina's new anti-LGBT law -- and he might get his wish.
After the state passed a law requiring transgender persons to use the restroom associated with the gender on their birth certificate -- instead of the gender they identify with -- Barkley spoke out publicly about the need to stand up to discrimination.
The NBA is scheduled to host its 2017 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte. If the law remains, Barkley thinks the league needs to seek an alternative.
"I think the NBA should move the All-Star Game from there next year," Barkley said with an interview with CNN. "As a black person, I'm against any form of discrimination -- against whites, Hispanics, gays, lesbians, however you want to phrase it.
"It's my job, with the position of power that I'm in and being able to be on television, I'm supposed to stand up for the people who can't stand up for themselves. So, I think the NBA should move the All-Star Game from Charlotte."
Such a move by the NBA is very possible -- after the bill was signed into law, the league released a statement saying it would reconsider the status of the game.
"The NBA is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for all who attend our games and events," said the league in a statement. "We are deeply concerned that this discriminatory law runs counter to our guiding principles of equality and mutual respect and do not yet know what impact it will have on our ability to successfully host the 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte."
If the league does change the All-Star hosting site, Atlanta has already offered to serve as a replacement host.
There is some precedent for this. The NFL had awarded Super Bowl XXVII to be played in Arizona on January 31, 1993. But in 1990, the league decided instead to play the game at the Rose Bowl in California because Arizona had refused to recognize Martin Luther King Day as an official state holiday. Arizona began recognizing MLK Day in 1992, and Super Bowl XXX was held at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe on January 28, 1996.
