Good morning. Let's basketball.

HB [PEACE SIGN]: The NBA announced the 2017 All-Star Weekend will no longer be held in Charlotte because of the refusal of North Carolina's elected leaders to repeal or fix the omnishambles House Bill 2 legislation that green-lights all manner of sex- and gender-based discrimination, including draconian restrictions on bathroom use for the transgender community. Adam Silver had previously warned North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory the league would move All-Star Weekend if the state didn't fix its anti-LGBTQ law. Now it's happened. Sounds like New Orleans is likely to get the 2017 festivities instead.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NBA NEWSLETTER Get news, links and Ziller's #hottakes in your inbox every weekday morning. Email

MEANWHILE, IN THE DUB ... The WNBA witnessed a rather epic group protest on Thursday. The league had fined players from three teams who wore plain black t-shirts during warmups to protest police-related violence. The fines came after warnings. Players revolted against the fines, and did more protesting Thursday, including Tina Charles wearing her shirt inside-out while accepting the Player of the Month award. In a post-game media session Thursday, players from Charles' New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever refused to answer any questions except those about police relations, gun violence and similar societal issues. No word on whether the WNBA will lob more fines at the players.

ON THE LINE: Simply fascinating dive into why big men miss free throws from Tom Haberstroh. The mix of physical, psychological and selection effects are so interesting to peel apart.

ENOUGH TO GO AROUND: Jesus Gomez explains why there should be enough touches to go around in Golden State this year. You really would be hard-pressed to find a better team to absorb a high-usage player and a high-usage player better suited to be so absorbed.

AGAINST SUPERTEAMS: I wrote a basic explanation as to why the NBA as an institution doesn't like superteams. It's because the NBA as an institution is really 30 smaller institutions playing a zero-sum game for dominance, with each institution's ability to win games often directly tied to its ability to make money.

THE BURDEN OF LUKE: Here's Daman Rangoola on what Luke Walton is charged with doing for the tumultuous Lakers franchise on the brink of sibling coup.

FACTS VS. THEORIES 101: Ethan Rothstein at The Dream Shake dives into the sensationalism driving the hearsay-based story that James Harden had anything whatsoever to do with the robbery of Moses Malone, Jr.

SHEESH: Jae Crowder seems really mad that Kevin Durant didn't sign with the Celtics after hearing the Celtics' top-secret gameplan for beating the Warriors.

PICTURE ME ROLLIN': Durant got a massive Tupac tattoo on his calf, becoming an official Californian. Welcome!

LOL: It sounds like Brandon Ingram is one of those guys who says things just to say them. Example: he said he never missed a free throw in high school (which would be a special brand of amazing). He missed like 100 free throws in high school.

ACCEPTANCE: The Sixers' GM readily admits he needs to trade a big man. I'd still be cautious until we actually see Joel Embiid play an NBA game, though.

#HOOPIDEA: After seeing Boris Diaw recommend a coffee maker to Manu Ginobili on Twitter, I'm comfortable suggesting Bobo gets a guest spot on The Sweethome.

DAMN: This is what happens when a 6'8 top-100 basketball recruit is also a 3-star offensive tackle recruit.

HIT ME UP: Written something basketball-related you're proud of? See something you think other basketball fans would enjoy? Send it to me. tom at sactownroyalty dot com. I can't guarantee to put everything in GMIB, and I apologize in advance if I can't reply to your email. But I receive a bunch of good stuff this way, and I'm happy to continue to accept suggestions that way as long as no one abuses it. Share!

Happy Friday. Be excellent to each other.