The N.B.A. will stage an All-Star Game on Sunday night in New Orleans, having moved its annual orgy of festivity from Charlotte in a stand against what it perceived to be discrimination in North Carolina.

Call it what you like, grand posturing or social valor, 2016 was a year in which the league moved miles from the Michael Jordan model of walking that fine unaligned line, that cautious acknowledgment that folks of all political persuasions buy basketball shoes.

Jordan — ironically the current owner of the Charlotte franchise that was originally to host this All-Star weekend — committed no crime in his day. He wasn’t obligated to climb atop any soapbox. His athlete-empowering legacy within corporate America is indisputable. Still, he never did consider the possibility that athletes could risk the commercial perils of taking sides, the way LeBron James has, without any significant blowback.

Marketing strategies change, along with the times. The N.B.A. is a global brand now. During this season, premier coaches — Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr and Stan Van Gundy — have bemoaned the rise and policies of Donald Trump. James, the league’s marquee player, campaigned in Ohio with Hillary Clinton. A host of stars, including James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, have, for a while now, been lamenting society’s polarizing ills.