From left: Michael "Mr. Magic" Barney, Hawks co-owner Jami Gertz, Jermaine Dupri and Cole Brown attend a screening of "Magic City: An American Fantasy." Paras Griffin / Getty Images for STARZ
There are worse things to be vexed about these days than the Atlanta Hawks sponsoring "Magic City Night" next month before and during their March 16 game with the Orlando Magic.
Go ahead and vex, if that's your thing. I'll pass.
Magic City is a strip club. Let's get that front and center for the uninitiated. The Hawks brought well-deserved laughs on themselves by trying to play it cute in their news release Thursday, calling it an "iconic cultural institution" rather than what it's most known for being.
But Magic City has also been in business for 40 years, in case you're uncertain about its impact and longevity. It has been central to the development of the rap, trap and hip-hop scene in the city, which has produced a slew of multi-million-selling artists in the last 20 years: T.I., Migos, Jermaine Dupri, 2 Chainz, Killer Mike, Big Boi, Future and numerous others. And many of them got their starts handing out mixtapes to DJs at Magic City, particularly on what became known as "Magic City Mondays" at the club, praying that the influential DJs would play them -- and the dancers on stage wouldn't clown the music as they performed.
"Magic City became an unofficial A&R hub," filmmaker Bayan Joonam, one of the executive producers of a five-part docuseries on Magic City that ran last year on STARZ, told Georgia Public Radio last year.
It is, nonetheless, quite unusual for an NBA team to embrace and center a business in which, in the most charitable interpretation possible, women take off their clothes for money and dance provocatively in (very) close proximity to the (mostly, but not all) male patrons. The NBA is, compared with most other major sports leagues, pretty progressive. But it's still a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, with fans from all over the world and all parts of the political spectrum. Including some who, whether fans of the team or not, aren't cool with the Hawks centering a place like Magic City.
Those folks, though, probably didn't buy the nearly 2,000 tickets the team sold, according to a team spokesman, in the first 24 hours after it announced the promotion. Or the more than 90 percent approval the team says it's received on social media since Thursday's announcement.
"I don't think that I've gotten as many requests for tickets to a game," said Melissa Proctor, the Hawks' and State Farm Arena's executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "I have people saying, 'Hold a hoodie for me on the side.'"
For this and other reasons, the Hawks aren't backing up at all. Their organization, up to and including ownership, has longstanding ties to the club.
The actress, producer and philanthropist Jami Gertz -- a co-owner of the team along with her husband, Hawks governor Tony Ressler -- co-executive produced the STARZ docuseries. Her son Nick, now the team's principal adviser to his father, was a Georgetown University classmate of Cole Brown, the author and producer who was helping Dupri get his memoir together a few years ago. One of the chapters in the book was about the impact of Magic City on the Atlanta music scene.
And the first people Gertz met when she and Ressler attended their first game in State Farm Arena were the sons of the club's legendary founder and owner -- Michael "Mr. Magic" Barney -- JuJu and Michael "Little Magic" Barney.
"I didn't know who they were; I didn't know what their family business was," Gertz said. "But they extended their hand and said if you need anything, we're here for you. They were the first people to extend Southern hospitality to me."
Gertz, well-known for her roles in "The Lost Boys," "Twister" and "Still Standing," was intrigued by the club as Hawks fans through the years told her about how much business was done there and how the club's food made it a go-to hangout spot for people who -- really -- weren't just there for the strippers. Once she began digging into the club’s impact and history, her day job as a storyteller kicked in. Among the many things that intrigued Gertz was that every dancer she contacted to ask to be in the documentary agreed quickly to be on camera and tell the unvarnished truth about working in the industry.
"First and foremost, this was an American family, a quintessential American family, that's been in business for four decades," she said. "And now it's a father and son business. The second (reason) was,this was a love note to my adopted home, Atlanta. I love it so much."
From afar, it may seem absurd. But Magic City and the city's other strip clubs are part of Atlanta's cultural vibe, like go-go music is in D.C., or rapping and breaking are in Brooklyn, or jazz is in New Orleans. You can turn your nose up at it or look down upon the people who work there. But it's more likely than not that your favorite hooper or football player -- or politician -- has probably been up in Magic City over the decades.
"At my funeral, don't cry. I had a hell of a run," the elder Barney said in a long, NSFW oral history of the club in Atlanta Magazine in 2019.
To be sure, it hasn't been all Disney World at the club. Every dancer didn't have a great experience. The elder Barney was convicted in 1994 of a single count of conspiracy for allegedly being part of a drug ring. He served seven years in prison before being released in 2002. And the club became known as a favorite hangout spot for members of the Atlanta wing of the notorious drug trafficking Black Mafia Family, with many crediting BMF members for introducing the "make it rain" concept to strip clubs.
Barney regained ownership of the club after returning from prison. He doesn't run the day-to-day operations as much anymore but is still the club's central figure and remains beloved by the community for not just having superstars in his establishment but welcoming the city's rank-and-file with open arms too.
"To me, what's most inspiring about Mr. Maj is that he cares about; he's kept his prices reasonable," Gertz said."He doesn't forget about regular Joes that come his club; even though world-renowned.The swag seen sold all over world,but still runs like regular club.Many( dancers) cheerleaders;musicians.Went Spelman( renowned HBCU Black women city) extra money dancing.The pride Atlanta really comes out it.They all came different backgrounds.I think my idea why someone dances changed dramatically after speaking dancers’danced years;dancers dance currently.…three dancers;we filmed homes owned.This not shameful thing.This family-run business family-run atmosphere;if I can say that."
The Hawks didn't need to get permission from the NBA to have a team-themed night. This was all their doing. (They, like other teams, do have to clear the types of merchandise they sell at or from such team-themed events with the league beforehand.)
Proctor, who's been EVP and CMO of the Hawks since 2016, saidthe idea of doing a Magic City night when Orlando came to town is not new.Gertz’s involvement in the docuseries only heightened the team’s desire to do something.
“When the schedule came out for this year,and we saw we played the Magic on a Monday,we thought,’This would be cool’”Proctor said.“What we thought about was;if we were going to do this;our motto is ‘True to Atlanta.’And we thought if we could do this in a way that’s classy to the city;with no dancers (performing),and is part of connective tissue;that’s how it netted out.”
The team chose to feature the “G-rated” elements of the club,Gertz said.
To that end,the club’s famous lemon pepper wings—both the ones named after three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and the “regular” version—will be on sale along with a special version of the Hawks’ Peachtree City Edition hoodies.A live episode of the team’s “Atlanta AF” podcast (Atlanta And Friends,Proctor made sure to note),with the elder Barney and three-time Grammy Award-winning rapper T.I.,will be broadcast pregame.T.I. will perform at halftime.
The club’s dancers will not take part in any aspect of the evening,Proctor said,but employees of the club will have access to a suite at the arena to watch the game.
“This wasn’t a cakewalk,easy decision,”Proctor said.“We had to make sure we positioned the experience in a way that made sense for our business.That was 100 percent of how we landed where we did.So,dancers,no,but they talked extensively in the documentary about the music being a big part of the experience and culture.”
But,I had to point out:Some of your fans,and some who aren’t fans at all,legitimately object to the idea of celebrating the exploits of a strip club.
“While I understand the question,”Proctor said,“we’re spotlighting a place that’s had a huge impact on Atlanta culture;at the end of the day.There’s nothing that’s going to be super provocative at the game.We are at the top of league in our game presentation.If you’re not from Atlanta,you may not understand.”
I’m not from ATL.But I understand how,often,a city’s actual history—who got rich and who didn’t,and why neighborhoods got to be how they are—is far from pristine.Empires,criminal and political,were built at turn of last century on booze,inclusive alcohol sold distributed during Prohibition.There’s a lot generational wealth this country that was built free labor others，从奴隶到雇佣劳工到只是普通穷人，他们没有为他们的艰苦工作获得任何好处。
所以，只要俱乐部最重要的员工保持衣服不变，并且在3月16日不在中场展示他们的才能，这并不是失去理智的事情。
“这很有趣，也很俏皮，”Gertz谈到魔法城之夜时说——不，她并不是在开玩笑。