Luke Kornet
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Luke Kornet should see an increase in minutes with Wembanyama out.
The Atlanta Hawks shocked fans by announcing a themed night to celebrate Magic City as a local strip club, but one player from another team is livid about it. San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet wrote an article on his personal blog page calling for the Hawks to cancel the night. The claim of Kornet is that many strippers are abused and treated poorly to warrant ending it.
Kornet said the following on Medium:
“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.”
Opposing voices feel that Kornet categorizing all “adult entertainers” under the same umbrella is a bit over the top. However, many have agreed with his overall point of this being a strange theme for an NBA team to celebrate.
Explaining The Hawks “Magic City” Night
Most NBA fans know of Magic City due to the infamous story of Lou Williams getting in trouble during the pandemic. Williams was forced to quarantine for 10 days in the NBA bubble during covid time after it was discovered that he visited Magic City for chicken wings.
Despite being known for the strip club business side, many NBA players allegedly visited partially due to the great food they have. Some players went out of their way to pick up the chicken wings if they were in the Atlanta area, regardless of whether they visited the strip club or not.
The Hawks decided to partner with Magic City for one of the many celebratory themed nights during the regular season. Given how many NBA players do associate the strip club with their NBA road trips there, it does provide some logical sense. However, the strip club aspect raises a red flag to question the intention.
Will Atlanta Cancel Night For Kornet?
The article from Kornet did get a lot of attention, but a bigger name is needed to put real pressure on Atlanta. A reserve center is not going to create enough headlines to quickly force a team to change a plan they believed in.
Hawks owner Jami Gertz revealed he feels it honors a business that has made an impact on the city and Atlanta’s unique culture. Lou Williams was invited to attend the game, and the Hawks are reportedly serving “Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ wings” at the game.
It is unlikely to see any strippers and nothing sexual is intended to take place on the themed night. However, Kornet still feels that an association with a strip club is a bad look for the NBA, with many agreeing with him on the generally polarizing topic.