Here's what you need to know:

On Wednesday, March 23, the Republican Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory signed a law blocking the right for cities to allow transgender individuals to use bathrooms marked with the gender they identify with.

Charlotte and Time Warner Cable Arena, the city and venue that the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Hornets call home, have received a bid to host the NBA All-Star game in 2017. However, due to the bill passed in late March, many critics, including Washington Post's Tim Bontemps, have called on the NBA to remove the game from Charlotte and place it in another city.

This piece isn't written to specifically focus on the law itself and the pros and cons that come with the law. This piece isn't written with the goal to talk about the controversial details of the bill and force you to pick a side. I'm not seeking to portray my own personal political agenda through these words. Instead, this piece is written to respond to the people with similar aspirations to those of the Washington Post writer who have called for a change of venue for the NBA All-Star Game.

I agree with Mr. Bontemps -- the NBA, like many of its professional sports league counterparts, should strive to provide equality for all who associate themselves with the league. "All," in this case, refers to the players, coaches, administrative staff, and, yes, even its fans. I also agree with Mr. Bontemps and others critics when they say the tone that the NBA has taken was an appropriate one, showing their intentions for moving towards equality for the league.

However, the call to remove the All-Star game from Charlotte and hold it at another venue in another city due to a political decision is absurd. A decision made prior to the bill being passed should not be influenced by the cosmetics and details of the bill itself, yet that may be a situation we find ourselves in near time.

Is this what the power of sports has led to? Has the power of sports influenced our culture so much in a way that it affects and in some cases makes the final decision in our democratic system?

If you don't believe me, Bontemps in his article references the situation that took place with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and a similar bill that was put in front of her in 2014. Having elected Arizona as the host site for its championship that year, the NFL threatened to repeal its decision to hold the Super Bowl in the state if the governor did not veto the bill -- a decision she eventually did make. I find the influence that sports has been on politics, especially here recently, quite atrocious.

What about the future of sports in North Carolina? As mentioned previously in this article, there is a professional team that calls Charlotte and Time Warner Cable Arena home. Does this call for the Hornets to move somewhere else and play the rest of their regular season games as well as the playoff games that will occur here in less than a month? Does the professional football team that calls Charlotte home quit playing its games in Bank of America Stadium? The decision that perhaps could be placed in the hands of the Association could in result ignite a fire that's not intended.

Though I am writing in response to his authorship, please don't conclude I'm writing to specifically target Mr. Bontemps and the article he has written on the specific topic. Mr. Bontemps' article just happened to be the first of many that I came across and provoked the thought.

To the National Basketball Association, Mr. Bontemps, and others who share the same position on the issue, as a resident of a suburb of Charlotte, I implore you to reconsider the developed feelings to remove the All-Star game since this bill has been passed. Charlotte, being a city that, 1. has a lot to offer and 2. has many proud residents who call it home, would be proud to play host and would prove itself well if were to have the NBA All-Star game. A simple political decision that has been made should in no such way affect another decision that relates in a only in a minor way -- and that is using the word minor loosely. If the NBA were to as a punishment to the state of North Carolina revoke from Charlotte the opportunity to host the All-Star game, the league could and most likely would leave a lot of fans disappointed, a city empty, and would be leaving this fan questioning the integrity of the NBA.