Story by: Kendall Kylls
Last month, it was announced that Atlanta will be the host of this year's NBA All-Star game.
Largely deemed the country's "open" city, it isn't exactly shocking that Atlanta was chosen, but Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has expressed her concerns.
"Under normal circumstances, we would be extremely grateful for the opportunity to host the NBA All-Star game, but this is not a typical year," Bottoms said. "I have shared my concerns related to public health and safety with the NBA and Atlanta Hawks. We are in agreement that this is a made-for-TV event only, and people should not travel to Atlanta to party."
The NBA has taken steps to prevent these said parties. The league sent out nearly 100 cease-and-desist letters to event promoters using the league’s name and logo to promote their festivities.
This of course stops little to nothing, as all promoters have to do is promote their events without including "NBA" in the promotion, as seen below.
Despite the mayor's pleas, odds are this weekend will be a huge party weekend in Atlanta, and NBA fans (and non fans) will likely travel from all over to turn up in the city this weekend. If the NBA actually cared about containing the virus, they would have cancelled the game all together.
Several players, including Lebron James, have spoken out against the NBA holding an all-star game in the midst of a pandemic. But the NBA is showing us all that their bottom line is their primary objective.