Ah, the NBA. If you love basketball, seemingly dislike the U.S., and play defense for China every chance you get, the NBA appears to be the place for you. Leave it to an outspoken owner of a NBA team to help lead the charge of asking the question of why we play the national anthem before sporting events in the U.S.
Elitist owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban had a feud with pretty much anyone on Twitter who said that they wouldn’t watch the NBA if players kneel for the anthem. Cuban displayed his usual self-righteousness and responded with an apples-to-oranges argument.
The National Anthem Police in this country are out of control. If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they don't play the National Anthem every day before you start work. https://t.co/NUwv7asO44
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 20, 2020
“The National Anthem Police.” Sorry, Mark. But typically gestapos and secret police are reserved for communist places that pump tons of money into the NBA, like China.
Here’s a solution for Cuban. Don’t play the anthem at your games. That’s fine. But don’t expect the taxpayers to pay even a portion of the bill when you eventually need a new stadium.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the never-ending national anthem controversy on Tuesday by tweeting that he’s “Looking forward to live sports,” but with a caveat.
Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2020
Listen, Cuban is more than entitled to his opinion. But he shouldn’t expect people to blindly agree with him when he denigrates their, and ironically his, national anthem. I would venture to guess that Cuban would never say the same thing about another country’s anthem while in said country.
Cuban sang a more measured, but similar tune about the anthem in 2017:
H/T: ESPN