Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was recently involved in a rather heated exchange with United States Senator Ted Cruz on the issue of players kneeling during the singing of the national anthem as a sign of protest. Cuban double downed on his earlier statement criticizing the “national anthem police,” as he also had a special message to fans — especially the veterans and/or police officers — who may be siding with Cruz on this issue.
Speaking to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Cuban detailed all the efforts his team puts into honoring veterans as an ultimate sign of his organization's high respect for them:
“We honor our veterans and thank them every day,” Cuban said. “We have had Seats for Soldiers every year for the past 15 years where we fly in wounded soldiers who have made incredible sacrifices for our country and honor them by partnering with our season ticket holders and giving them every front row seat around the court.”
Cuban then went on to describe in detail how the Mavs continue to hold programs that are meant to honor the veterans, and even asked the readers to Google “Mavs Seats for Soliders,” which according to Cuban, will “give you chills.”
The billionaire then went on to share how highly he and the Mavs organization hold the Dallas police force in such high regard, as he responded to Cruz's accusation of Cuban dishonoring the police with his earlier statement.
“While we don’t have a singular day for our officers, we have incredible programs with the Dallas and local Police Departments,” he said. “Our players, our staff, our community relations group work very closely to recognize them and to create programs that allow local kids to get to know them better and recognize the hard work they put in. I have met personally with the Chief of Police to discuss programs and ways to move forward . As I told her, I am not a fan of defund(ing) the police , but I am a fan of disrupting the police and allowing them to focus on their core competencies and sharing other responsibilities with those outside the DPD.”
Simply put, Cuban is pointing out how he and the Mavs organization in general have no intention to disrespect or dishonor veterans or the police. It's actually quite the contrary. His criticism on the national anthem police should not be misconstrued with his sentiments toward veterans and the police.
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