Hawks Stand By ‘Magic City Monday’ Promotion

The Hawks have no plans to change their “Magic City Monday” promotion even as NBA players criticize it, a team spokesperson tells Front Office Sports.

Warriors center Al Horford joined Spurs center Luke Kornet in speaking out against the team celebrating the famous Atlanta strip club during their March 16 game against the Magic.

Atlanta announced the promotion on Feb. 26, calling it a “special one-night collaboration to celebrate the city’s iconic cultural institution Magic City”, which will feature a performance from rapper T.I. at halftime.

Kornet posted a letter to his Medium account Monday, urging the Hawks to cancel the promotional night and arguing that allowing it to continue would be a poor look on the league. 

“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,” he wrote. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.”

Horford echoed his former Boston teammate’s message on Tuesday. “Well said Luke,” he wrote on X. The 39-year-old Horford played for the Hawks from 2007 to 2016.

The Hawks otherwise declined to comment.

As part of the promotion, the Hawks are partnering with the strip club to create a “limited-edition Peachtree-themed hoodie” which reads “Magic City” across the chest and has the Hawks logo on the right sleeve. 

During the game, Magic City Kitchen will serve two versions of their well-known lemon pepper wings in the arena, including the Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ flavor, named after former Hawks guard Lou Williams. During the 2020 bubble, Williams missed two games for the Clippers while in NBA-mandated quarantine because he was seen at Magic City during a trip to Atlanta to attend his grandfather’s funeral. 

Williams has always said that he went for the wings.