NBA Sends Out Tons of Cease-and-Desist Letters To Stop All-Star Game Parties

The NBA is being proactive in covering its own ass.

After ignoring its players wanting to cancel this weekend's All-Star Game, the league pushed on anyways. Several states across the country are choosing to open up, so that decision makes sense. It's the next move that seems pointless on the surface.

According to Marc Stein with the New York Times, the NBA has sent out hundreds of letters with cease-and-desist orders included. And where are those letters going? To party promoters around the Atlanta area that have been using the All-Star to promote events.

This comes after parties continued to be promoted despite Atlanta mayor Keisha Bottoms pleads to avoid large gatherings.

Look, this is nothing more than the NBA trying to show they "care."

The optics of forcing players to participate in a game they want no part of during a pandemic looks bad to some, but don't worry, those same fine folks are doing everything they can to make sure everyone else is safe .

Is this going to do anything to stop those parties? Absolutely not. They'll continue to press on, just like the NBA chose to with playing the game. People know it, too.

I'm not sure what the league was expecting here, but parties were always going to be a byproduct of the All-Star Game ... period. To try and act surprised now that people are planning these large gathers is confusing and sad.

At this point, the NBA shouldn't have even held the event.

Granted, I wasn't planning to watch it anyways, but this seems like an awful lot of work for an event that very few people -- fans and players -- want a part of. I'm sure those superstars who spoke out against it are going to be motivated to put on a good show, though.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.