The Atlanta Hawks are doing Magic City Monday and Luke Kornet is not happy about it
Only in Atlanta. The Hawks announced last week that they would be hosting a “Magic City Monday” promotion for their March 16th home game, paying homage to one of the most famous strip clubs in the country and arguably one of the most culturally significant establishments in Atlanta sports history.
The press release called Magic City a cultural institution, which is hard to argue with if you have spent any time around NBA basketball or hip hop over the last two decades.
If Magic City first came across your radar it was probably through Lou Williams, who famously used his excused absence from the NBA Bubble for a visit to the club. The league office initially denied his claim that the trip was for the lemon pepper wings. Most people took Lou’s side on that one.
The reaction to the Hawks announcement was largely positive. Taylor Rooks shared that Magic City was actually her first strip club experience. Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash appeared in promotional content eating wings in what can only be described as adorably awkward silence.
Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins had an absolute field day on First Take, as Stephen A. entered what has become his natural habitat on national television. The ticket demand was high. The promotional hoodie sold well. For a minute it really looked like this was going to fly without much resistance.
Then Luke Kornet wrote a Medium post about it.
The Spurs center blogged a petition against the event, arguing that it was disrespectful to women and that the NBA community should not be complicit in the objectification and mistreatment of women.
He wrote that arenas should be environments where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy basketball and that celebrating a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision.
Excerpt from Luke Kornet’s article which is titled like a corporate company HR announcement:
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…
The irony of Luke Kornet (white boy) being the one to plant the flag here is not lost
Look, the concerns are not completely without merit but there is a significant difference between hosting a strip club themed promotional night and actually having strippers at the halftime show.
Nobody is doing that… unfortunately.
This is lemon pepper wings, a hoodie, and a nod to one of Atlanta’s most well-known cultural institutions. The city embraces Magic City. The NBA’s relationship with Atlanta hip hop culture runs directly through it. The Hawks leaning into that is not a scandal, it is just good marketing for their specific market.
Hawks fans love the Magic City Monday promotion…
The blog has generated mixed reviews and there is a chance more prominent voices follow Kornet’s lead, which would put real pressure on the Hawks to either tone it down or cancel the event entirely. That would be a genuine shame given the demand the promotion already generated.
Two weeks out and we will see how this one lands. All I know is that someone needs to try those lemon pepper wings and report back.
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