February 16, 2021

USA: Mark Cuban Told The Athletic It Was His Decision To Stop Playing National Anthem Before Games. NBA Mandated ALL Teams Play National Anthem. Then Mark Claimed He Never Cancelled.

NY Post
written by Soctt Fontana
Tuesday February 9, 2021

Haven’t heard about any national anthem protests at Mavericks games? There’s a good reason for that: Dallas isn’t and won’t be playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” anymore.

Mark Cuban told The Athletic it was his decision to eliminate the tradition of playing the anthem before games. The move went unnoticed through the first 13 combined preseason and regular-season games at American Airlines Center because the Mavericks did not publicize it, either within the organization or through an announcement to media. Monday marked the first game in which the Mavericks allowed a limited number of fans into their arena.

Cuban has been vocal about his support for those who wish to kneel during the playing of the national anthem, the practice which former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began in 2016 and which became a lightning rod for partisan political debate.

The outspoken Mavericks owner told ESPN last July of the potential for his team’s players to kneel during the anthem: “If they were taking a knee, and they were being respectful, I’d be proud of them” and that he hoped he would “join them.” He later tweeted, in response to what he called “The National Anthem Police,” that if critics of the nonviolent protest of systemic racism in the United States took issue, then they could “complain to your boss and ask why they don’t play the National Anthem every day before you start work.”

Although NBA rules require players to stand during the playing of the anthem, commissioner Adam Silver has opted to overlook the rule in view of supporting his players’ decisions to express themselves.

“I recognize that this is a very emotional issue on both sides of the equation in America right now,” Silver said during a press conference in December, “and I think it calls for real engagement rather than rule enforcement.”
Just The News
written by Alex Nitzberg
Wednesday February 10, 2021

On the heels of news that the Dallas Mavericks had not been playing the national anthem prior to preseason and regular-season home games this season, the NBA said in a statement on Wednesday that all teams will play the national anthem.

"With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy," NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass said in a statement.

The Athletic recently reported that the Dallas Mavericks had stopped playing the anthem prior to home games and there were no plans to start playing it in the future—the choice had been made by owner Mark Cuban who confirmed it to the outlet. ESPN had also reported that Cuban confirmed that the team had nixed playing the anthem before home games at his direction. ESPN reported that Cuban made the choice after consulting with Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner.

The Dallas Mavericks PR Twitter account on Wednesday tweeted that the national anthem will play before Wednesday's game. The tweet also included a statement from Mark Cuban:

"We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them," Cuban said in the statement. "We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been. Going forward, our hope is that people will take the same passion they have for this issue and apply the same amount of energy to listen to those who feel differently from them. Only then we can move forward and have courageous conversations that move this country forward and find what unites us."
When White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked during Wednesday's press briefing about Cuban's decision to stop playing the anthem at his team's games, she said that she had not talked with the president about Cuban's decision, though she said that she knows Biden is "incredibly proud to be an American and has great respect for the anthem" as well as everything that the anthem "represents, especially for our men and women serving in uniform around the world."
 
She said that Biden would additionally say that pride in America "means recognizing moments where we as a country haven't lived up to our highest ideals, which is often and at times what people are speaking to when they take action at sporting events. And it means respecting the right of people granted to them in the Constitution to peacefully protest. That's why he ran for president in the first place. And that's what he's focused on doing every day."

 ðŸš¨ðŸ‘‡ BONUS RELATED 👇🚨


End Transplant Abuse published September 25, 2019: Hamid Sabi - China Tribunal - UN Human Rights Council 42nd Session (Ingenieurs du Monde)


Mr Hamid Sabi - Counsel to the China Tribunal addressed the UN Human Rights Council on the 24th September, 2019. (Footage provided by UN live feed and Ingenieurs du Monde.)
UPDATE 2/16/21 at 7:23pm: Added info below.
UPDATE 2/16/21 at 8:13pm: Added info below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 6:58 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)