March 9, 2026Updated March 10, 2026, 12:55 a.m. ET
The NBA has canceled a controversial Atlanta Hawks in-game promotion centered around a local area strip club.
The league made the announcement Monday, March 9, citing “significant concerns.” The promotion had been scheduled to take place in a week, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Monday, March 16, during a game against the Orlando Magic.
“When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Monday in a statement. “While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees. I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community.”
The promotion was supposed to be a one-night collaboration with prominent Atlanta strip club Magic City, in what the team was characterizing as an in-game celebration of hip-hop called “Magic City Monday.”
The Hawks released a statement Monday evening, expressing disappointment but acceptance of the NBA’s decision.
“While we are very disappointed in the NBA’s decision to cancel our Magic City Night promotion, we fully respect its decision. As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta – with authenticity – in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together,” the statement read.
In its initial promotion, the team avoided referring to the establishment as a strip club, choosing instead to label it an “iconic cultural institution.” The Hawks were set to highlight its “world famous” chicken wings. As part of the promotion, Magic City Kitchen was set to serve two versions of its lemon pepper wings, Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ, named after Atlanta-native and three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year-winner Lou Williams, and traditional lemon pepper.
Williams famously couldn’t help but visit the spot for its wings in 2020 when he was excused from the NBA Bubble in Orlando to attend a funeral, while everyone was social distancing due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The moment went viral after a photo he snapped with rapper Jack Harlow during the visit was posted to social media.
Williams received a 10-day quarantine for violating safety protocols but maintains that the league’s focus was on him going to a strip club rather than his real reason for going – the food.
The incident did two things: birthed the nickname “Lemon Pepper Lou” and also cemented Magic City Kitchen as the stuff of NBA and Atlanta legend.
Atlanta rapper and entrepreneur T.I. was expected to perform at halftime. The Hawks were also planning to sell a limited edition hooded sweatshirt with “MAGIC CITY” emblazoned across the chest.
“From the food to the music and the exclusive merchandise, we are excited to team up with Magic City to create an authentic, True to Atlanta-inspired game experience,” Hawks executive vice president and chief marketing officer Melissa Proctor said Feb. 26 in a news release.
The promotion drew a mixed reaction from players and fans. San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet wrote and published an open letter posted to Medium Monday, March 2, asking the Hawks to reconsider.
“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,” Kornet wrote. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.
“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.”
Kornets’ perspective split the NBA world, with some feeling that his stance was dismissive of the cultural impact of Magic City on the hip-hop scene in Atlanta.