NBA player Luke Kornet faces backlash over strip club promotion takedown

Sports pundit Michelle Beadle ripped into San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet over his blog post calling for the Atlanta Hawks to end their “Magic City Night” promotion, touting the famed strip club Magic City.

Kornet urged the Hawks to cancel the promotion and suggested NBA players and officials “promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.”

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San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet (7) reacts during the second quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2026. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)

Beadle said on her podcast, “Beadle & Decker,” that Kornet should “take a seat.”

“Luke Kornet, I need you to take a seat,” she said. “I love you, the man, because you’re a Spur and that’s how this game works. And all respect to his … he wrote a long, long blog about why the Atlanta Hawks should respectfully rescind ‘Magic Monday.’ … As a woman, I am not offended by the idea of ‘Magic Monday.’ Again, I cannot say this enough, Magic City, for anyone who’s been to Atlanta, it’s not just a t—y bar. I feel like that’s sort of the vibes that maybe people are getting.

“Secondly, and more importantly is, thank you, white knight. We don’t need this. I’ve had enough of men telling us what we can and shouldn’t and what we should want and what we should need and how we should act. No, no, no, these are not trafficked 12-year-olds, okay? We have that, and none of those people are being brought forward. This is not that. These are grown a– women who have a job. I don’t understand, are you shaming that industry as part of this blog? I can’t really understand the motivation. And most importantly, that’s not even a Spurs game, bruh. That’s Magic-Hawks. It has nothing to do with you, and he’s got like a petition. He actually wants people to sign on, and I’m just, I’m a little confused by it.”

Michelle Beadle attends 8th Annual Nike Basketball 3ON3 Tournament at Microsoft Square on Aug. 5, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.  (Leon Bennett/WireImage)

Kornet wrote that allowing the night to continue “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.”

He added that “others throughout the league” were surprised by the Hawks’ decision to have this promotional night.

“We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision,” he wrote.

Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs reaches for the ball during the third quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on February 26, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.  (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

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The Hawks have since seen a spike in ticket demand since the controversy first started.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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