Newly-acuired New York Knicks player Joakim Noah is at the center of a controversy these days because he decided to skip a team dinner with cadets at the U.S. Military Academy.

After their team practice last Friday, the 6-foot-11 big man explained why he decided to make that decision, per The NY Daily News:

“I wasn’t there to be honest with you. It’s hard for me a little bit. I have a lot of respect for the kids who are out here fighting. But it’s hard for me to understand why we have to go to war, why kids have to kill kids around the world. So I have mixed feelings about being here. I’m very proud of this country. I love America but I just don’t understand kids killing kids around the world. …

“I’m not anti-troops. It’s just not comfortable for me to see kids going to war and coming back having seen what they’ve seen and done what they’ve done. It’s sad for me. It’s sad for me.”

The 2014 Defensive Player of the Year also said that he had gotten permission from the team to skip the annual dinner event with the troops and head coach Jeff Hornacek gave his thoughts about this issue:

“That’s his right. He wants to be a part of the team group and do everything the team is doing. He just didn’t feel comfortable. We’re not going to pressure him into doing that. We had the speaker (the ex-colonel) who I thought was fantastic. I told him, maybe we can get a little copy, if there’s a copy of the speech, just so he can hear some of it. That’s his right.”

His coach may have understood why he chose not to show up but the U.S. Military Academy responded to Noah's action and shared their disappointment over the former 9th overall pick of the 2007 draft. Per ESPN.com:

“The U.S. Military Academy at West Point develops leaders of character for the defense of our nation. We are disappointed and feel Mr. Noah's choice of West Point to make a statement is inappropriate because of the great sacrifice that has originated from this institution over our nation's history.”

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The choice to skip the event is controversial in itself but it does not necessarily mean that Florida Gators product did not spend time interacting with the cadets present after their practice. The Knicks PR Twitter feed shared some picture showing just that:

If there's one thing certain about the stand he opted to do, it will be one of more talked about acts of protest against today's social issues. It will definitely be worth monitoring as well how the people will react and respond to Noah's action.