Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has canceled the national anthems at the team’s games.
The move: The anthem was not played before the Mavericks’ first 13 NBA games this season, and on Monday Cuban confirmed it would no longer precede the team’s remaining home games.
- The billionaire businessman told The Athletic he made the decision in coordination with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, but declined to comment further.
- In June, Cuban voiced support for players and coaches kneeling during the national anthem, saying: “If they were taking a knee and they were being respectful, I’d be proud of them. Hopefully I’d join them.”
- Throughout his seven-year tenure as commissioner, Silver has declined to enforce a league rule that requires players to stand during the anthem.
But the NBA issued a statement Wednesday that all teams would be expected to play the anthem before games.
The reaction: Right-leaning critics slammed Cuban’s decision on Twitter, with several — including Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton — cracking wise about Cuban and the NBA’s allegedly cozy ties with China.
The protests: Kneeling during the national anthem, originated by Colin Kaepernick in 2016 as a protest against police killings of black men, has become increasingly commonplace amid a nationwide racial justice movement.
- Former President Donald Trump, echoing the sentiments of many conservatives, vocally opposed anthem protests as “disrespecting our Country & Flag.”
