Wednesday on ABC’s “The View,” owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban said players kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racism in law enforcement was a “beautiful thing.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “While the NBA is reportedly going to paint black lives matter on the courts, they haven’t signaled any willingness to reverse their nearly 40-year-old rule against kneeling during the national anthem. You defended that policy, Mark, in 2017, but now you say you support players kneeling, and you’ll kneel with players if the opportunity arises. What changed for you, and do you think players, even you, could be punished for kneeling?”
Cuban said, “You know, we’ll see what the NBA comes down in terms of the actual rules, but we’re in a different time. Things are changing. The last five weeks have seen a dramatic shift in how people in this country are responding to systemic racism. Because we’ve seen such dramatic change, I want to be part of the solution, and you’ve got to let go of the old ways that just were not working. If that means going against the grain, and maybe upsetting a few people, so be it.”
He added, “If our guys want to kneel, I think that’s a great step forward. Look. I’ll add this. You know, all this discussion of kneeling and the flag has got to be again about the Pledge of Allegiance, and the best part about the Pledge of Allegiance is when you pledge allegiance to the flag, it’s for liberty and justice for all. I think players and anybody who addresses the flag and kneels, really is just standing up for that pledge they made for liberty and justice for all because that’s truly what we need in this country, and as NBA players or any athletes anywhere who push further in that direction, that’s a beautiful thing.”
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