Hornets' Walker supports NBA's decision to pull ASG from Charlotte
The NBA recently announced it's moving the 2017 All-Star weekend from Charlotte, and Hornets point guard Kemba Walker supports the relocation.
Following months of deliberation, the league resolved to pull the All-Star festivities from North Carolina over its HB2 "bathroom bill," which has been deemed discriminatory and at odds with the NBA's "long-standing core value" of inclusiveness.
Though Walker was looking forward to hosting the event, he respects the NBA's call, referring to the league as "a leader in social conversations and change."
"I was excited that my basketball hometown was going to host (the All-Star Game), as was the whole city of Charlotte," Walker wrote in The Players' Tribune. "But more important is inclusiveness for everyone, particularly our fans - of all races, genders, and sexual orientations. ... The NBA took a stand on principle and equality. I support that."
Related: Hornets support NBA in moving All-Star Game, hope to host in 2019
The 26-year-old's comments came a day after his team's owner, Michael Jordan, donated $2 million toward initiatives to improve police-community relations.
Walker also wants to help. He acknowledged his place in society, conceding NBA players are "not politicians," before adding, "but we're also not just athletes."
He continued:
"There is strength in numbers. And the more of us who speak up and use this platform we've been given to help drive change, the more difficult it will be for these injustices to continue. When you have more and more professional athletes standing for a cause, it gives other athletes, and other people around the globe, more confidence to do the same. You realize you're not in this alone, and that's empowering."
Walker brought up the fact that some of his colleagues who feel strongly about the recent injustices likely haven't spoken up yet because of how it may affect the way they're perceived by fans and sponsors.
"It's a risk, no doubt," he said. "But, let's be real: Those risks aren't much in comparison to the risks that many people in communities across the nation take every day in trying to bring about change."