In this June 23, 2015, file photo, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, left, and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, right, pose for a photo during a news conference to announce Charlotte, N.C., as the site of the 2017 NBA All-Star basketball game. Silver said Thursday, April 21, 2016, he believes the league has made it "crystal clear" that a change in a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people is necessary to stage the 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte, though is resisting setting a deadline for a decision.Chuck Burton/The Associated Press
Commissioner Adam Silver believes the NBA has been "crystal-clear" that the 2017 all-star game only stays in Charlotte if a North Carolina law goes.
Political and business leaders he's spoken with in the state believe it will, so he's holding off for now on setting any deadlines for when the NBA might act.
Silver said last week the law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people was "problematic" for the league, but he believed dialogue was more useful than ultimatums at this point, so he has continued discussions with North Carolina officials.
"The sense was that if the NBA could give us some time, they in the community of North Carolina were optimistic they would see a change in the law. They weren't guaranteeing it and, I think, which was why my response was the event still is 10 months from now; we don't need to make a decision yet," Silver said on Thursday during a meeting of Associated Press sports editors.
"We've been, I think, crystal-clear that we believe a change in the law is necessary for us to play in the kind of environment that we think is appropriate for a celebratory NBA event."