NBA Has No Plans To Move 2017 All-Star Game From North Carolina

The National Basketball Association said Friday that it has no plans to move its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, amid backlash to the state’s sweeping new anti-LGBT law.

While the NBA hinted earlier this month that it might move the game, league Commissioner Adam Silver said there’s currently no change in plans, according to CNN Money.

“It would be easy to say we’re moving it,” Silver said in a press conference. “We feel there’s a constructive role for the league to play. If we announce we’re moving it now, what’s the incentive to change the law?”

Silver clarified that despite public reports, moving the All Star Game was not discussed in the meeting Friday. Instead, he said, leaders focused on “creating change,” according to the CNN Money report.

The league’s reaction to North Carolina’s HB2 law contrasts with the actions of many celebrities, politicians and companies. Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr canceled concerts in the state, for example, and Deutsche Bank halted an expansion plan in Charlotte.

Pressure had mounted on the NBA itself to move the All-Star game. NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley urged the league to move the game to Atlanta, while a bipartisan group of U.S. senators signed a letter urging the NBA to move the game.

The law prevents cities from creating non-discrimination policies, requires individuals to use public bathrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate, and takes away private sector employees’ ability to sue for workplace discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R) recently issued an executive order clarifying the law that did little other than extend protections to certain state employees.