03-04-26 - Spurs Player Luke Kornet Says He's Against The Atlanta Hawks Doing Magic City Night For Their Game

Summary

Episode Overview

Main Theme:
This episode of Holmberg’s Morning Sickness (03-04-26) dives into the controversy surrounding the Atlanta Hawks’ upcoming “Magic City Night” — a basketball game promotion that celebrates the iconic Atlanta strip club, Magic City. The crew explores the backlash from San Antonio Spurs player Luke Kornet, who publicly opposes the event, and dives into the broader societal attitudes toward strip clubs, sex work, and women’s empowerment.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The Atlanta Hawks’ Magic City Night and Luke Kornet's Opposition

• The Atlanta Hawks are promoting a special event, “Magic City Night,” to honor the famous strip club Magic City, known for its food, music, and deep roots in Atlanta’s hip-hop culture.
• Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs (not even an Atlanta player) went public urging the Hawks to cancel the event, claiming it sends “a bad message to women.”
• Al Horford, a former Hawks player, supports Kornet and voices his disapproval of the celebration.

Notable Quotes:

• “Luke Cornett’s passionate plea to the Atlanta Hawks isn’t stopping them from hosting Magic City Night.” (John, 04:07)
• “He says it’s claiming that it sends a bad message to women.” (John, 04:41)

2. Cultural Context: Strip Clubs in Atlanta

• The crew discusses Atlanta and Tampa as strip club capitals, referencing Magic City’s prominence in rap, sports, and nightlife.
• Comparison to Phoenix, where strip clubs aren’t a destination aspect of the city’s culture.

Notable Quotes:

• “Atlanta is known for its strip clubs. All these NBA guys like, and our audience loves this… The audience, NBA audience in Atlanta, they like strip clubs.” (John, 03:37)
• “Magic City Night was something the Hawks were going to do…T.I. put it on the map. There’s songs that are Magic City’s mentioned in.” (John, 04:40)

3. Debating Morality, Empowerment, and Mixed Messages

• The crew questions whether honoring Magic City sends a bad message or is a statement of female empowerment.
• The hosts challenge the stigma around strip clubs and contrast this attitude with the popularity of sexualized reality TV and OnlyFans.
• They stress the importance of personal choice and criticize those who claim to be speaking on behalf of women who work in the industry.

Notable Quotes:

• “Why is it bad to support a completely legal thing? That’s a local business. You should be supporting local.” (John, 06:25)
• “Shouldn’t women be, like, empowered by other women who are confident enough to do that job and willing to do it?” (John, 07:14)
• “Everything’s sexualized. I’ve seen Instagram…Every woman that goes to Stake 44 gets up like she’s at Fashion Week just to go to the bathroom because she knows every eye’s on her…” (John, 07:42)

4. Strip Clubs as Employers and Feminist Perspective

• Discussion about the economic impact of strip clubs, hiring hundreds of women, and whether club owners are, in fact, supporting women’s economic empowerment.
• Jokes about the gender wage gap in a tongue-in-cheek way.

Notable Quotes:

• “You’re an actual feminist if you run a strip club.” (John, 09:31)
• “I employ single mothers and moms. That’s beautiful when you think about it. And I’m not making them do anything they don’t want to do.” (John, 09:38)

5. Personal Anecdotes & Humor: Strip Club Experiences

• The crew shares humorous and awkward stories from their own strip club experiences, emphasizing personal comfort levels and boundaries.
• They riff on the “degradation” argument, questioning if being paid for your looks is truly degrading.

Notable Quotes:

• “Since when is it degrading to throw money at women? What’s degrading about that? If you were on the street and I just went, god damn, and just started chucking dollar bills at you…” (John, 13:13)
• “There’s not a job on the planet a man can get behavior at the club.” (John, 15:03)

6. Luke Kornet’s Motivations & Faith

• The show shares details about Kornet’s personal beliefs: he’s a devout Catholic, Knights of Columbus member, and runs a church review blog.
• They debate whether it’s fair for Kornet to impose his values on others, drawing a parallel to hypothetical “Church Night” at an NBA game.

Notable Quotes:

• “Luke Cornett is a devout Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has spoken openly about his faith… and has even created a blog called Don’t Pass the Rock to review churches…” (Bret, 16:08)
• “How would he feel if somebody said, we’re going to have church night for the Atlanta Hawks and all the other players are like, not on my watch?” (John, 16:31)

7. Broader Reflections on Social Attitudes

• They point out that issues exist in every industry, including drugs (“Cocaine is involved in every business”—Brady, 17:25).
• Question the double standards applied to female-dominated businesses versus others (e.g., bakers, craft shops, etc.).
• Reiterate the importance of honoring workers (including strippers) who choose their profession willingly and safely.

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Memorable Moments and Quotes (with Timestamps)

• [04:25] Bret: “Are they featured at halftime?” (on if actual dancers will perform during the game)
• [06:25] John: “Why is it bad to support a completely legal thing? That’s a local business.”
• [07:14] John: “Shouldn’t women be, like, empowered by other women who are confident enough to do that job…”
• [09:31] John: “You’re an actual feminist if you run a strip club because the only people you hire are women.”
• [13:13] John: “Since when is it degrading to throw money at women? What’s degrading about that?”
• [16:08] Bret: “Luke Cornett is a devout Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus…”
• [16:31] John: “How would he feel if somebody said, we’re going to have church night for the Atlanta Hawks…?”

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Additional Noteworthy Segments (Timestamps)

• [03:35-04:45] – Framing the Hawks’ promotion and Kornet’s opposition.
• [06:25-09:05] – Debate about the legitimacy and empowerment in strip clubs.
• [11:09-13:11] – Funny and awkward stories about real-life strip club visits.
• [16:00-17:20] – Kornet’s religion, the church comparison, and views on value imposition.

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Tone and Style

• The conversation is irreverent, humorous, and provocative—characteristic of John Holmberg’s style.
• Blunt jokes, playful banter, and satirical takes on social issues and double standards are frequent.
• The crew remains opinionated but also contemplative, discussing both sides of the issue while consistently challenging societal taboos around sex work.

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This summary covers the full discussion on Magic City Night, Luke Kornet's opposition, and the complex issues of sex work, empowerment, and societal standards, capturing the HMS crew’s comedic, critical, and sometimes controversial perspectives.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Check out wildlifeworld.com do it today.

[C]

The what's your Mount Race Rushmore podcast. There's two things that I think I am almost always. It's hungry and tired. I spend. I seriously probably spend 80% of my life, my waking life, being either hungry or tired or both. I will mirror that, but I will add a third one. I'm always also gassy. Yes, you are. There is no doubt about that. What's your Mount Rushmore? I don't know.

[D]

Listen wherever you get podcasts.

[C]

Morning sickness. The old method of treatment for a person in this condition was to throw him in jail. Karen emailed back yet curious about.

[A]

She gone.

[C]

Seen it. She gone. She's off raging at someone else at work for looking at her sideways. Menopausal. Karen, you got a couple. A couple weeks worth of good ones. We got. We got Rachel and. And Catherine and now Karen angry about the world. And it's because we're in that time frame as a show that our audience has aged into that angry. Menopausal ladies.

[E]

Keyboards are furious.

[C]

Restless. Well, if Rachel's trying to get over there, but she's. She's running around like crazy. Legs her. She can't get to the keyboard because her legs are guiding her all over the place that rest. How come restless legs never happen while you're just walking in a Safeway? Oh, you guys, look out. I got restless leg syndrome there. Ah, it's an attack.

[A]

Kicking displays over.

[C]

Oh, cry.

[D]

Look, the can display.

[C]

Brady, you just sold me. Guess what? I've got restless legs. Tourette's. I just kick. I kick end caps over at supermarkets. I'm sorry. It's a disease. Terrible.

[A]

They put. If they put your.

[E]

Your face up at the opening to the Albertsons.

[C]

Yeah, watch this guy. Hey, look, you got to put me in one of those chairs and strap me down or I'll start kicking Rachel and her big Fat legs, kicking Karen screaming about her busted up ovaries. Not my fault. You cope with your life problems, I'll make fun of them. That's how this works. Real quick, one of our listeners, Lafig, has emailed and says, for my old pony boy, mad dog Capone, we had to say goodbye. So please give your fur babies cookies and milk bones a year long battle with cancer around his heart. We were lucky to have my bully for 11.5 years. That's it for Las Veg and her dog. She takes, she talks about her bullies a lot and she's a, she's a dog lady. So. Thanks, Lisa. Sorry about that. Cookies and hugs for all your pets. Or Capone. I like it. That's a good name. I have a thing. I'm confused about this. I was watching the, the sports thing. I was online, so I don't even know what it was, but the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta is known for its strip clubs. Like, like, yeah. Oh, yeah, this is great. So the Atlanta Hawks decided, well, let's just have Magic City Night and like honor the strip clubs that all these NBA guys like. And our audience loves this. Like the audience. NBA audience in Atlanta, they like strip clubs. And that's where, I mean, the Gold Club. TI Ray Lewis killed a guy at a strip club down there. Got away with it because people were like, it's. Strip clubs are fun. Every rapper from the, the dirty south, it's, it's all about the strip clubs. And, and I've never been, I'm not a big strip club fan, but they say Atlanta and Tampa have the best in the world. There's one in Tampa called Moss Venus that's supposed to be. We went by it and it's big. It's right off the freeway there in Tampa. It's a monster. But.

[E]

Well, and that has like legendary status.

[C]

Oh, in the. But evidently so does this stuff in Atlanta. So Magic City Night was something the Hawks were going to do. And one of their players, Luke Cormel, says, I don't like the San Antonio Spurs. It wasn't even their player. I guess it was a guy for the spurs. Says Luke Cornett's passionate plea to the Atlanta Hawks isn't stopping them from hosting Magic City Night. Says, don't worry, Luke, no strippers will work the party at the game. The spurs center spoke out Monday, calling the Hawks to scrap their plan to honor the iconic strip club in Atlanta when they host the Orlando Magic. Magic Come to town. Magic City Night.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And Luke's like, no. And they Were gonna have wings and food and merch and music. And T.I. who made it, put it on the map. There's songs that are magic cities mentioned. I'm not playing. It's just tons of raps cardi Bs in there. Future TI2 chains, dude's constant 2 live crew. He says it's claiming that it sends a bad message to women. And Al Horford, who played for the Hawks back in the early in the aughts they call it, he said, I give praise to Luke Cornett and said that this is not a good idea. A rep for the Hawks tells us that the plans haven't changed at all and there have been no talks of calling it audible. Good for you, Atlanta Hawks. Now, isn't this the mixed message? Yes. Does it send a bad message to women or does it send a great message to women to say, you know what? That's a legitimate job and you're making. You're paying ends, you're making ends meet, you're paying your bills, and we support you no matter what you choose to do? It says. The team's initial statement on the promotion didn't mention the adult nature of the establishment, nor did they say any of the dancers would be present. There's no real point to it. So from the food to the music and exclusive merchandise, we're excited to team up with Magic City to create an authentication true to Atlanta inspired game experience. This tells me two things. Atlanta's got a problem with attendance, and Magic City threw some money their way. And they're like, all right, we'll do that. So that's basically what this.

[E]

Did you mention. Are they featured at halftime?

[C]

No, no, no, they're not.

[A]

That would be spectacular.

[C]

Why is it bad to support a completely legal thing? That's a local business. You should be supporting local. And the taxes of strip clubs in almost every metropolitan area are specially designed to help, like education and stuff and roads. Like, they make them pay extra because they are dirty.

[E]

No less morally constraining than all the legal gambling that we do with them.

[C]

Exactly. You have, like, why is that? But it's against women. Isn't it against lonely men too? Then supporting a strip club is like, sad men. Strip clubs are not like, dance against your will places.

[E]

I know.

[A]

And that's. I think that's maybe part of the perception too. It's wrong that they think that they're. There's trafficking going on.

[C]

But shouldn't women be, like, empowered by other women who are confident enough to do that job and willing to do it, like, why would you yell at other women and say, this demeans me? You don't have to do. Sexualizes us. Yeah, so do the Kardashians, and you guys can't get enough of that. So do the Real Housewives, and that's the number one show for women on tv. Men don't watch that. I mean, straight ones, but everything's sexualized. I've seen Instagram. I've been to stake 44. Every woman that goes to stake 44 gets up like she's at Fashion Week just to go to the bathroom because she knows every eye's on her because she worked for an hour and a half to make sure everybody looks, and then she gets upset when they look. No, I like strip club night. It wouldn't make sense here. Phoenix is not known for its strip clubs. Not at all. Like, people don't come here for, like, oh, that one. We don't even. I've lived here my whole life. We don't have. Bourbon Street's probably the one people know the most, but it's not like people don't fly in for it like, they do. Atlanta and Vegas.

[E]

That's also, like, one of the last big ones here, right? Like, Skin is Small. All those ones on Scottsdale Road.

[C]

Yeah, they're typical.

[E]

Mons, Venus and Magic City are gigantic.

[C]

It looked like one of those crazy

[A]

girls is changing that.

[C]

Yo, Crazy Girls is great. There's great clubs. I'm just saying, nobody's flying in going, we got to get to this place. That's a good move, Brad. It's an advertiser smart. That's what the Hawks are doing. Hey, these Magic City people handed us a lot of money. We're going to bow down to this. I just think it's time we stopped bashing strippers. I think that's against women, and I think you're pigeonholing women who are like, I want to be an outward kind of exhibitionist, and it's not hurting anybody, and it's paying my bills. What's wrong with it? Why is only Fans not, like, something like, I'm sure if Only Fans gave the Hawks or Sons or anybody a bunch of money.

[E]

Only Fans night at the Hawks game.

[C]

I think what we're learning here is

[A]

my buddy who owned Bourbon street at one time said, I'm in the top 20 of employers of employees, yet 287 women.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

On rotation.

[C]

And you know how much that would have been if those were men? You got to pay them 100. You're only paying the women 70.

[E]

Yeah. So it's only like hiring 110.

[A]

It's funny to see that list of employers in Arizona companies and they would be up there.

[C]

I never thought of that. Brady. But you're an actual feminist. If you run a strip club because the only people you hire are women.

[A]

Pretty much.

[C]

That's genius. I run an operation where nothing but 90% women in my employment. I. I employ single mothers and moms. Like that's. That's beautiful when you think about it. And I'm not making them do anything they don't want to do. Right. They signed up knowing the drill. I think it's time we empowered the stripper. Not all of them.

[D]

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[C]

Holmberg's Morning Sickness. Some of them shouldn't be doing it. There's a lot of confidence in a few of them that should not have it. Now, when those lights go a little dimmer on that stage, you know when it gets. Oh, yeah. All right, guys, put your mining on. We're going to turn the lights all the way off for this next act.

[E]

I just always think. And does it change up signs of betrayal.

[C]

Yeah. Excuse me. Manhole was out. I had to tell her.

[E]

Is it ma' am or.

[A]

It was.

[C]

It was a woman There were no men.

[D]

But is that what he said, ma', am, or.

[C]

Yes, he did. Excuse me, miss.

[E]

He was polite.

[C]

Your butthole is showing. Because we just got yelled at for asking if their pants come off. You're not allowed to see anything under there. I'm like, okay. The boys from the band were like, okay. We didn't know if this was full nude. Well, it's not, like, okay. The lady bent over and her wagon wheel was as clear as a bell. Her thong had slid over, and my friend Steve Blodgett tapped her on the shoulder and said, excuse me, miss. Your butthole showing. And she responded down. And then we got yelled at for tapping her on the shoulder.

[D]

You got booted out for.

[C]

We didn't get kicked out. We got yelled at. We were spending too much money to get kicked out. They weren't really that mad. But talking about their wagon wheels, if it pops out, just let it go. And it did. What we're learning here is that Luke Cornett is a pussy. That's basically. He's a captain save a ho. He's. He's. He's a. He's a white savior, I guess you'd call him. He's, like, standing up for women who can't stand up for themselves. The strippers aren't mad.

[E]

Feels like he's trying to get out ahead of something that didn't need to be gotten ahead of.

[C]

Like, you can. Like, I'm for learner and row. I don't get mad when Demopolis Law or Sweet Jane shows up at a son's game. That's not the law firm for me. Like, all right, that's just not gonna land on my thing. I'm a learner and row guy, so. Yeah, so strippers get honored. I think it's high time we admitted that they've done some good in this world. Most of them are a mess, but so what? There's a lot of secretaries out there with their shirts on that are just as goofed up as strippers are.

[A]

Single moms need love, too.

[C]

Damn right. Since when is it degrading to throw.

[D]

Not from you, but you're just saying,

[C]

since when is it degrading to throw money at women? What's degrading about that? If you were on the street and I just went, God damn. And just started chucking dollar bills at you. The difference is you kept your clothes on and there's still dignity in it. Or would you turn that money down?

[E]

Well, and to take that further, isn't it less dignified to not throw a

[C]

dollar at the stripper. Well, no, no. Like, if I'm at Circle K, I'm like, that chick's hot. Oh, and I just went over and made it rain with the cash gun. I got it. She wouldn't be like that homeless bra.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

You're pick all that up and put it in your pocket. I'm like, no. What? What?

[A]

I'm gonna carry a cash.

[C]

I can sexualize you without you being naked. I do it all the time.

[E]

Watch this.

[C]

And if I started chucking money at you, I guarantee you wouldn't feel degraded. You'd be like, oh, my God, I was at the Circle K and this guy thought I was so hot, he gave me money. You'd be thrilled by it. I would too. I wouldn't feel degraded, Brett. How bad would it be? You and I are standing there getting a couple of, I don't know, hostess apple pies like you love so much. That's why your teeth are falling out. And we're up there and. And a guy comes up and goes, you're a good looking man. Like, hey, thanks. $100. Even if it's a fella, you'd be like, thanks. And they'd be like, that was Doug Hopkins. He does that all the time. I called him cheap for not giving me five grand. Right. Where's my money, Doug? If gummo. When I were up there and Brady, if somebody chucked money at you, you'd be like, this is degrading.

[A]

Stop. Knock it off.

[C]

Please don't anym. Oh, I feel sexualized. Yikes. I'll never be the same. 300, 400, 500. Oh, it's the worst. Yeah, I. Oh. Not that I was gonna start a gofundme, but this is. This is awful. Chucking money at women is not degrading at all. You should consider yourselves lucky. There's not a job on the planet.

[A]

A man can get behavior at the club.

[C]

Not a soul in this room ever has the opportunity to go into a place and go, I'd like to work here and have people throw money at me. All I gotta do is stand next to that pole. I don't even have to be good at it. And I'm gonna be going for a job at Dick's Cabaret anytime soon. Nope. I don't want. Because it's mostly dudes, not us. Not a man on the planet has that. It's a job. It's a job no man can have. It goes back to that argument that makes a ton of sense. Ladies hate this one. If women get paid less all the time, how come employers don't just hire all women? Ah, sassy. All of you thinking like, wow, that should be.

[A]

Well.

[C]

Well, I know we have our reasons we want our business to succeed, but for a while, it makes a load of sense.

[A]

We don't want Karen coming back.

[C]

A great argument for that wage gap thing everybody's barking about. Well, if that were true, a smart businessman would never hire guys. He'd get the cheaper labor force.

[E]

John did, and he pasted it here. Did you see the explanation that was posted online? It reads like this. Luke Cornett is a devout Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has spoken openly about his faith, focusing on his vocation as a husband and father, and has even created a blog called Don't Pass the Rock to review churches he visits on NBA road trips.

[C]

No kid. He's got church Yelp now. How would he feel if somebody said, we're going to have church night for the Atlanta Hawks and all the other players are like, not on my watch. So just, you know, just ignore it.

[A]

Probably honor that. Yeah.

[C]

He can make his statement and say, I'm not for this. This is against what. I mean, personally, I don't like.

[A]

Yeah, just as long as they. I guess, you know, I look at it and go, well, you can do that. That's what they chose to do. But don't shame me for not participating.

[C]

Well, you don't have to be mad. But don't. But don't go out on a soapbox and scream, this is wrong for everyone, because I don't like it. Yeah, we never honor strippers. Then it's time we. They got their. They. They've done a lot for society over the years, and they're not going anywhere.

[A]

In fact, I mean, there's been some problems over the years, but that's every business.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Ever since we started making them work, every business has run into that problem. Prior to that, there were no issues.

[A]

And cocaine is involved in every business.

[C]

That's truer than you want it to be. The nine o' clock word is fade. Fade. But there go. There goes Brady. Did you see what he did there? He passive aggressively made strip clubs dirty drug holes.

[A]

I was defending.

[C]

No, you said there's all business. You were passive aggressive about it. Kyler, we saw what you did. Plenty of businesses have cocaine problems. Mm. We know what you were doing there. And you're not wrong. They have a huge problem with drugs over at those things. But lots of places do. Fade is the 9 o' clock word for you strippers. I don't particularly care for strippers or strip clubs. I find it weird. Never been a big fan. Been there a few times. Tried to like it. I didn't like it. I didn't feel like there was any purpose to it. I was gonna go home and masturbate no matter what. Now I'm all frustrated. Don't touch me. I'm used to this. Like, stop it. I wasn't gonna. Don't. Don't put your hand. I wasn't gonna. Your friend gave me $10 to dance. Okay, fine. To get it over with. We're not getting along. I don't know how this happened. So. Yeah, I look at it like that. Brady's buddy was a number one employer of women in this whole. Remember, they brag about that. They had a lady on the news the other morning was making cupcakes for people, and she stood next to an incredibly pregnant woman on Channel 3 and another lady, and all she was doing was making cupcakes. And she looked at the other ladies and she goes, female business, female owned. And they all started dancing and I'm like, what the. It's cupcakes. Calm down. You didn't. You're not, like, enriching uranium Female. Oh, no, man can make a cupcake. We can make cupcakes. Calm down. We hire nobody but women like you. Imagine if a dude went on there and said, yeah, our business is all male owned. No women in there. Okay, we gotta shut that down. That's wrong. Dale didn't do that when he had his cookie shop. Nope. He hired everybody. We used to honor strippers. We had a MILF contest and got shut down because nobody was mad. But they gave everybody the opportunity to not come into work when we had it. And they didn't because it was a free day off.

[E]

Anyway.

[C]

Atlanta Hawks. I'm with you on this one. Tons of it. It's 906. We got a Rock wars coming. I haven't played Rock wars in a little bit, but a couple of weeks off. I don't either. We'll get to that in a second. We'll figure out Rock wars next. It's 98.

[A]

It's not weird.

[C]

It's pretty cool, actually. No membership fee. I have heard enough of this.

[F]

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