Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made the decision to not play the United States national anthem at Mavs home games this season, becoming the first known instance of a professional team doing away with the anthem before games.
The controversial decision has naturally drawn some backlash, and now Cuban is trying to do damage control:
Source close to Mark Cuban says decision to not play Anthem before Mavs games isn’t because they don’t love U.S., but because many feel anthem doesn’t represent them, and they want to continue discussion of how to represent people from all communities when honoring U.S. at game.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 10, 2021
It's not surprising that some are upset with Mark Cuban's move, but his reasoning makes sense after everything that happened last season. Most NBA players decided to kneel for the anthem during the restart in the Orlando bubble as a way to fight for social justice amid the Black Lives Matter movement surging in 2020.
Cuban himself has been outspoken about demonstrations during the anthem. While he initially supported standing for the anthem in 2017 when then-President Donald Trump criticized NFL players for kneeling, Cuban has since changed his tune on the matter. He even got in a Twitter scrum with United States Senator Ted Cruz over the issue, defending his players and the organization against attacks that they're being disrespectful with these protests.
The Mavs owner consulted with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the decision to scrap the national anthem before games this season. While Cuban is now trying to clarify his decision through an anonymous media source, he apparently doesn't have any plans to reverse it.
Mark Cuban appears set to stick to his guns on this issue, and the Mavs will continue their efforts to fight for social justice and make everybody feel welcome and represented at their games.
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