Despite league commissioner Adam Silver trying to move the league past politics, the NBA once again found itself in the middle of a protest controversy.
But this time the league crossed a line.
And you won’t believe how the NBA handled this national anthem protest.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban caused a firestorm when he banned the playing of the national anthem before Mavericks home games this season.
Once the story broke, Cuban relented after an order from Commissioner Silver.
When the NBA restarted their season in the Orlando bubble this past summer, it was news if an NBA player or coach did not kneel for the anthem.
The league just had to drag the Mavericks kicking and screaming to honor America and its veterans before the game.
But everyone in the NBA proudly celebrated the Chinese New Year.
The jokes write themselves @ClayTravis pic.twitter.com/Eknkf9p9m1
— Brennon Chapman (@BrennonChapman) February 11, 2021
The NBA called China its “largest fan base” and announced that all teams will wear “Chinese New Year” uniforms and “pay tribute to Chinese culture”.
Currently, the communist Chinese government imposed a democracy crackdown in Hong Kong where journalists and protesters are being arrested.
The communist Chinese government also runs concentration camps where over one million Uighur Muslims are kept as slave labor and reportedly forcibly sterilized.
There will be no protests about human rights abuses from LeBron James.
James will “shut up and dribble.”
In 2019, the NBA was faced with a choice after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted about freedom in Hong Kong and the communist Chinese government banned NBA telecasts costing the league hundreds of millions of dollars.
All the political activists in the NBA like James and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr were exposed as frauds as suddenly they didn’t know enough to offer political commentary on communist China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.
Now this much is clear: NBA players, coaches, and officials will kneel for the anthem AND kneel in supplications to communist China.
Sports with Balls will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
