The NBA Says That All Teams Must Play The National Anthem Shortly After Mark Cuban Announced He Won’t
Well that was quick!
Shortly after Mark Cuban announced that he will stop playing the National Anthem at all home games for the Dallas Mavericks, the National Basketball Association sent out a statement hours later.
“With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy.”
Mike Bass, NBA Chief Communications Officer
However, owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban stated that he consulted with the NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver before making his decision about removing the National Anthem from all home games.
So now what?
Well, according to the Dallas Mavericks via social media, the team will play the National Anthem when they face the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night along with a statement of their own.
“We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who do not feel the anthem represents them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been. Going forward, our hope is that people will take the same passion they have for this issue and apply the same ammount of energy to listen to those who feel differently from them. Only then can we move forward and have courageous conversations that move this country forward and find what unites us.”
Dallas Mavericks