This was the first time that Silver had insinuated that if there are no changes to the law, which requires transgender individuals to use public restrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificates, the league would be unable to hold the game there. On multiple occasions during his press conference here last week at the conclusion of the league’s Board of Governors meetings, Silver simply said he was unwilling to offer up a timeline for a decision to be made on moving the game.

“The law, as it now stands in North Carolina, is problematic for the league,” Silver said last week. “There was no discussion [among owners] of moving the All-Star Game. What the view in the room was [was that] we should be working toward change in North Carolina.

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“The league believes that these groups need to be protected, but again, I think the right way to work to the proper resolution here is for the league to remain engaged in the conversation, rather than setting ultimatums or announcing we’re not going to play our all-star game in Charlotte.”

Throughout his press conference last week, as well as during Thursday’s interview session, Silver stressed he doesn’t want to set a timeline for a decision, and would rather allow the process to play out in a way that will result in the law changing and allow the game to go on as scheduled.

But in declining to set a timeline Thursday, Silver also made it clear the league is monitoring its options in the event a decision to move the game must be made, and said logistics won’t be a factor in delaying a decision on whether to move the game or not.

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