‘The National Anthem Police In This Country Are Out Of Control’

TOPLINE

Billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban doubled down on his defense of NBA athletes protesting police brutality during the national anthem Sunday night in two fiery tweets as anti-racism gestures are adopted by international sports leagues and—at home—the NFL adopts a much more open stance to player protests.

Billionaire Mark Cuban.

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images

KEY FACTS

“I am so ready to be be in on this year’s #Mavericks home stretch: so much promise, so much personality. But the minute one player kneels during the anthem, I am OUT, Dallas-area conservative talk host Mark Davis tweeted, calling for Cuban to “lead the way” in devising a form of player protest that doesn’t “insult the nation.”

Cuban, whose net worth Forbes estimates to be $4.2 billion, dismissed Davis in a pair of tweets, with the first simply saying, “Bye.”

In the second, Cuban went on to say that “the national anthem police in this country are out of control,” adding, “If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they don’t play the national anthem every day before you start work.”

Cuban told ESPN June 18 that he would “hopefully” kneel with Mavericks players, or “stand in solidarity” in whatever form of protest they might choose to do.

Kneeling before the start of sporting events has been adopted internationally, with Premier League soccer players and Formula One drivers adopting the gesture (although not during national anthems).

Chief critic

President Trump. After NFL player Colin Kaepernick attracted widespread attention in 2017 for kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” he then attracted Trump’s ire over his form of protest. The NFL followed with a punitive 2018 ban on kneeling, which commissioner Roger Goodell reversed last month and admitted the league was wrong in its handling of player protests. Trump has, however, maintained his stance on national anthem protests. “Could it be even remotely possible that in Roger Goodell’s rather interesting statement of peace and reconciliation, he was intimating that it would now be O.K. for the players to KNEEL, or not to stand, for the National Anthem, thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?” Trump asked on Twitter June 7.

Crucial quote

“This is important to our players and importance to the fans, but most importantly it’s important to the United States of America that we address these sensitive issues and try to help end systemic racism,” Cuban said in a Sunday night Fox News special on race relations in the U.S. “Systemic racism has been here for generations and it’s not going away unless we do something about it.”

Key background

Cuban is no stranger to wading into political debates over divisive subjects. He took on Fox News host Sean Hannity during a June 23 appearance on Hannity’s show. The two argued over Trump’s reelection effort versus presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign, with Cuban saying Biden actually “wants to run the country.” Cuban has flirted with a presidential run of his own, but opted to stay out of the 2020 cycle after polling he commissioned revealed he would have sucked votes away from both candidates.

Tangent

Six-time Formula One champion driver Lewis Hamilton criticized the sport’s “rushed” anti-racism gesture of taking a knee before the start of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Not all 20 drivers arrived to the podium on time, and not every driver knelt, which Hamilton called “embarrassing” and “dilutes the message” in a Sunday night Instagram post. “F1 and [the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the sport’s governing body] need to do more,” Hamilton wrote.