Author: Jeff Zillgitt / Source: USA TODAY
The NBA All-Star game returns to Charlotte after a controversial relocation in 2017 due to North Carolina’s bathroom bill. So the question is, was the time right for the NBA to return? USA TODAY
CHARLOTTE — Up until a few months ago, Rick Welts, the most prominent openly gay NBA executive, was unsure if he wanted to attend All-Star Weekend in Charlotte because of North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ law, USA TODAY Sports has learned.
According to two people with knowledge of the situation, the Golden State Warriors president and CEO was vacillating on the decision. The two people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about Welts’ decision.
Welts, a longtime NBA executive who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, will participate in All-Star Weekend, but it required conversations with Gov. Roy Cooper, local officials and Charlotte Hornets executives.
Welts declined to comment through a team spokesperson.
Had Welts not attended, it wouldn’t have registered a ripple among fans. But inside the NBA, it would have been a significant rebuke and low moment for the league.
Welts is considered the father of the modern All-Star Game and was the influential voice behind convincing owners to relocate the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to New Orleans because of North Carolina House Bill 2, the anti-LGBTQ law that required people to use public bathrooms of their birth gender and omitted gay and transgender people from discrimination protections.
At the 2016 summer NBA owners’ meeting in Las Vegas, Welts gave a poignant but measured address to owners. Welts explained who he was — a man who began his NBA career as a ballboy for the Seattle…
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