NBA veteran J.J. Redick dismissed President Trump’s disapproval of kneeling protests before professional sports games.
“First of all, I don’t think anybody in the NBA cares if President Trump watches basketball. I couldn’t care less,” Redick said after Thursday night’s game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz. “As far as his base, I think regardless of the specificity of tweeting about the NBA, every tweet of his is meant to divide. Every tweet is meant to incite. Every tweet is meant to embolden his base. So, [last week] was no different.”
Redick was one of several players who knelt during the national anthem before Thursday’s game. Since the death of George Floyd earlier this year, calls for sweeping police reform and social justice have reverberated across the professional sports world.
The NBA has pledged to fight racism in America, displaying “Black Lives Matter” prominently on courts during games and allowing players to wear the names of victims of police brutality on the backs of their jerseys.
Trump has been sharply critical of the kneeling protests and the Black Lives Matter movement in general, saying he would not watch games if players knelt and has labeled the Black Lives Matter movement as a group with a “hateful message.”
“Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!” Trump tweeted last month.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly voiced support for kneeling protests.
“I respect our teams’ unified act of peaceful protest for social justice, and under these unique circumstances will not enforce our long-standing rule requiring standing during the playing of our national anthem,” Silver said in a statement provided to the New York Times following Thursday’s kneeling protests.
At least one NBA player has said he does not support kneeling protests.
“I believe that Black Lives Matter. Kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt doesn’t go hand-in-hand with supporting black lives,” said Jonathan Isaac, a black man and a player on the Orlando Magic. “I support black lives, but not that way. My life has been supported by Jesus Christ. The Gospel gives us force.”
