The ongoing controversy surrounding North Carolina's House Bill 2 -- known by many as the "Bathroom Bill" -- has reached into the sports world with the NBA's concern regarding the upcoming All Star Game in Charlotte and even the cancellation of a basketball game on Duke's non-conference schedule for 2016-17.
"It's an embarrassing bill," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told USA Today this week. "That's all I'm going to say about it."
Albany, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, is guided by a new mandate in New York that prevents businesses and public corporations or institutions from "non-essential" travel to North Carolina as means of protesting the controversial law, which is seen by some as discriminatory toward transgender people.
Albany was scheduled to play at Duke as part of the annual Hall of Fame tip-off, and now the Blue Devils need a new opponent for that Nov. 12 game.
In addition to the NBA All Star Game, the state of North Carolina is supposed to host the 2016 ACC Football championship game in December and NCAA Tournament games in 2017. Currently New York and Minnesota are among the states that have mandates against "non-essential" travel to North Carolina.
