Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has confirmed that he has decided that the team will no longer play the national anthem before games.
Since the regular season started, Dallas has not played the anthem in any of their home games. However, Cuban has revealed that he made the decision before the season started to forgo the national anthem. Now, it has been confirmed that Dallas will no longer play the anthem moving forward. The team owner has declined to give a reason behind the decision.
Cuban was outspoken about people who criticized NBA players’ decision to kneel during the national anthem. The Mavs owner had once said, “If they were taking a knee and they were being respectful, I’d be proud of them, hopefully, I’d join them.”
The owner has taken shots against the critics of kneeling during the anthem by tweeting, “The National Anthem Police in this country are out of control. 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.”
“Under the unique circumstances of this season, teams are permitted to run their pregame operations as they see fit,” said NBA spokesman Tim Frank.
Playing the national anthem during pre-games is common and unique to sports in America, but it is uncommon in other countries.
