“The NBA is more of a political organization” Donald Trump dissed NBA stars for focusing more on off-court antics
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LeBron James and Donald Trump
NBA has become one of the most popular sports leagues across the globe with sporting heroes transcending the sport. Donald Trump had claimed that what he viewed as political activity by the National Basketball Association would destroy the sport. After star players such as Lebron James refused to take the court for playoff games this week in protest at the Kenosha police shooting, the US president expanded his attack on the boycott.
Some basketball fans were souring on the NBA’s support of teams and players bringing politics onto the court, tossing an assist to the former President Donald Trump in his attacks on the league. Donald Trump criticizied the league the day after player protests over police brutality led to the postponement of playoff games. NBA players halted play for three days in a protest sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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“Basketball is not working” – Donald Trump slams the NBA over protests
Senior White House aides earlier had suggested that the protests were not constructive and were hypocritical considering the league’s relative silence about human rights violations in China, where U.S. pro basketball has a large audience. The president said in a radio interview this month that NBA players were “very nasty” and “very dumb” for kneeling during the national anthem to protest social injustice. Trump said people did not want to be confronted with politics when watching sports.
“People are tired of watching the highly political @NBA. Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won’t be coming back. I hope football and baseball are watching and learning because the same thing will be happening to them. Stand tall for our Country and our Flag!!!”
The Milwaukee Bucks kicked off the boycott in 2020 by refusing to leave their locker room for the game against the Orlando Magic. The players were demanding that lawmakers act to address police brutality and racial injustice. The NBA had to then announce that the scheduled playoffs were postponed, but the league hoped to resume play Friday or Saturday.
“They’ve become like a political organization, and that’s not a good thing,” Trump told reporters following the NBA’s statements, noting that the league’s ratings are down from previous seasons. “I don’t think that’s a good thing for sports or for the country.”
The disdain between Donald Trump and the NBA is no secret to anyone who has been keeping up. A lot of the league’s top players (including LeBron James and Steph Curry) have publicly criticized the President, and the President has publicly criticized and flamed players right back. It has become an all-out war at this point, and Trump is not really doing anything to alleviate it. In fact, in his most recent comments, he may have stirred things up even further.
Obviously, these are highly critical and borderline threatening remarks by the President. These comments, however, are nothing out of the ordinary for Trump, especially in connection to protesters. It remains to be seen how the NBA and its community will respond, or even if they will respond, in the coming years.
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Aditya Minocha
(216 Articles Published)