The NBA says it has canceled the Atlanta Hawks’ planned promotional night collaboration with strip club and city institution Magic City.
In a statement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he believed cancelling “Magic City Monday” was “the right decision for the broader NBA community.”
The March 16 celebration would have featured a live performance by Atlanta native T.I. In their press release announcing the promotion, the team said visitors would also have the opportunity to try two versions of Magic City’s renowned chicken wings and purchase a special hoodie commemorating the event.
After the Hawks announced the promotion, multiple players called on the team to cancel the event. San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet wrote on his blog that celebrating Magic City “would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”
The Magic City Nightclub sign in Atlanta, Georgia.
Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
Other players, including Draymond Green, supported the promotion. Magic City manager JuJu Barney said that the event celebrating the club, which had been operating in Atlanta for decades, would have no nudity.
Silver said that he reached out to the Hawks to better understand the event, and, while he appreciated the team’s desire to move forward, “significant concerns” led to the cancellation.