NBA Moves Meeting Out of Ariz.

NEW YORK — The NBA is moving its annual meeting from Scottsdale, Ariz., because of a controversy over Arizona’s failure to observe Martin Luther King Day as a legal holiday, the league said today.

In June, 1986, Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat, issued an executive order that created a state holiday honoring the late civil rights leader. After Republican Evan Mecham became governor in January, 1987, he rescinded the order. Since that time, more than 30 organizations have canceled conventions that had been scheduled for Phoenix and the surrounding area. Arizona is one of only seven states that don’t recognize Martin Luther King Day as a legal holiday.