NBA Fires Back After Mark Cuban Cancels National Anthem Before Games

Earlier today, we reported that the Dallas Mavericks would no longer be playing the national anthem before their basketball games. It was a decision was made by team owner Mark Cuban.

Unfortunately for him, this has backfired in a big way. The NBA has stated that per their rules, his team will need to play the national anthem before the games.

NBA Fires Back After Cuban Cancels 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 released on Wednesday.

Full Story: Dallas Mavericks’ Owner Mark Cuban Cancels National Anthem Before Games

NBA Has Had Rules In Place About The Anthem Since The 1980s

The NBA has had a rule in place since the 1980s demanding that players stand for the national anthem and that it be played before all basketball games.

However, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has not been enforcing the part of the rule forcing players to stand over the past few months. 

“I recognize that this is a very emotional issue on both sides of the equation in America right now, and I think it calls for real engagement rather than rule enforcement,” Silver said in December, according to ESPN.

Cuban has been an outspoken supporter of Black Lives Matter in the wake of the death of George Floyd last year.

“It’s really a distributive movement across the country to try to end racism to bring awareness to social justice issues,” Cuban told Megyn Kelly in October.

Related: NFL Commish Roger Goodell Praises Colin Kaepernick – Says He Deserves ‘Our Recognition And Admiration’

Cuban Hit With Backlash

Cuban was met with a lot of backlash on Tuesday after he admitted to The Atlantic that he has not played the national anthem at any of his team’s home games this year. 

“Get woke, go broke!” tweeted Anthony White, the vice president of the Fort Worth Police Officers’ Association union. “I won’t spend another cent on @dallasmavs.”

“Maybe the fans who attend will take the initiative to sing the National Anthem in unison anyway,” he added, according to The New York Post. “U.S. military personnel have shed blood and some have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.”

Country music star John Rich felt similarly.

“So, American billionaire #MarkCuban will no longer play the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games,” tweeted Rich. “Wonder what he’d do if I bought a ticket then stood up in my seat and got the whole crowd singing it at the top of their lungs? Would he usher us all out? I’d like to see that:)”

“Fans who still choose to attend should put their hands on their hearts and just start singing it. Now that would be a moment,” tweeted former Fox News host Megyn Kelly.

We applaud the NBA for taking action after Mark Cuban canceled the national anthem. And, for taking a stand for our anthem, our flag, and our country.

This normalization of people ditching patriotism and disrespecting our country has gone way too far. 

Enough is enough, and we can only hope that the NBA won’t let the “woke” left convince them to back down on this.