The decision by Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks to stop playing the national anthem drew a lot of reaction on Tuesday.
Cuban confirmed to The Athletic that it was his decision not to play the national anthem before the home games at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks did not play the national anthem before home games this season, and the team does not plan to play it in the near future.
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“It was my decision and I made it in November,” Cuban told The New York Times.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank clarified the rules for The Associated Press.
“In the unique circumstances of this season, the teams are allowed to carry out their operations before the game as they wish,” said Frank.
The decision to reject the anthem drew the reaction of both those who disagreed and those who supported him on social media.
Cuban and Mavericks did not disclose the withdrawal of the national anthem before the games, but The Athletic reached out to the team when they realized it was not played before Monday’s match.
FLASHBACK: WNBA PLAYERS CALL LEAGUE TO STOP PLAYING THE NATIONAL HINARY BEFORE GAMES
Several staff members only noticed the removal of the anthem on their own, according to The Athletic. They also said it was not announced or explained internally.
During the summer, Cuban got into a fight on social media with some people about Mavericks players kneeling for the national anthem. He tweeted “goodbye” to radio host Mark Davis after threatening to stop watching if players knelt while playing “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
According to The Hill, Cuban then added: “If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask them why they don’t play the National Anthem every day before you start working.”
This tweet has already been deleted.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, then put himself in the middle of this, adding, “Is the NBA telling everyone who defends the flag, who honors our policemen and veterans, to ‘get out’? In Texas, nothing less? “
Cruz and Cuban then became involved in the league’s relationship with China.
MARK CUBAN CONFIRMS THAT MAVERICKS ARE NO MORE PLAYING BEFORE NATIONALS AT HOME
Cuban has been an advocate for players who exercise their First Amendment protest rights and have done so during the national anthem in recent years.
WNBA players raised the question over the summer as to why the national anthem is played even before the games. Major League Soccer did not play the anthem when they initially returned because there were no fans in the stands.
Mark Clague, a national anthem expert, told NPR in 2018 that “The Star-Spangled Banner” was first played at a sporting event in Brooklyn, NY, on May 15, 1862. The song matched the dedication of a new baseball field in the New York neighborhood, he said.
“They hire a band because it’s a big celebration,” he told NPR at the time. “When you have live music in 1862, during the Civil War, you will play patriotic songs. So they play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, more or less coincidentally. It is not part of a ritual; [it’s] did not play to start the game. “
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The anthem was played again during the 1918 World Series and because of the public’s reaction, the song caught on to the top four American sports.