NBA makes its stand: If you can’t handle player protest, then move on -

[MrJokerRager]

Every time I see some NBA footage all the players are black and the crowd is always white

Gentrification in action as the average blue collar Joe and Jane are priced out. And majority of rich people even in hell holes like SF are white. It's happening across all major sports leagues for a while where passion is reduced or destroyed in favored of making everything G rated to appeal to Karens and their dumb kids from the suburbs.

 

[737 MAX Stan Account]

Gentrification in action as the average blue collar Joe and Jane are priced out. And majority of rich people even in hell holes like SF are white. It's happening across all major sports leagues for a while where passion is reduced or destroyed in favored of making everything G rated to appeal to Karens and their dumb kids from the suburbs.

If Ratings are any indication, it’s backfiring big time. Hence why the NBA is so dead set on groveling to the Chinese.

 

[Salubrious]

If Ratings are any indication, it’s backfiring big time. Hence why the NBA is so dead set on groveling to the Chinese.

That worked out well when Darey Morey made a harmless tweet about Hong Kong, the NBA immediately denounced him, and the Chinese were still so pissed that the NBA lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to China pulling some contracts.

Edit: No joke, that tweet which was immediately deleted and denounced by both the Rockets and the NBA likely cost the NBA $400 MILLION.

Daryl Morey on Hong Kong Tweet: 'I'm very comfortable with what I did'

Daryl Morey says he fully understood the situation when he sent out a Tweet about the Hong Kong protests a year ago, but he didn't expect the backlash.

nba.nbcsports.com

 

[Goyaanisqatsi]

If it wasn't for the politics, I'd figure most people that are 30+ would be fed up with the poor on-court quality.

I know, I can't stand it. Every game basically plays as the All Star Game with little to no defense, quick 3 attempts by piss poor jump shooters, a steady abandonment of set plays, the gross amount of offensive players pushing off, and majority of players playing off of ISO (thanks Jordan!).

Growing up, all my favorite players were either centers or power forwards and it's a damn shame how post play has all but gone the way of the dodo and their insistence of keeping bigs not named Rudy Gobert around the perimeter since every team is so three crazy now.

I'd take that over a team shooting 4 for 30 from 3 point any day.

 

[Iron Hamster]

Every game basically plays as the All Star Game with little to no defense

Players like Lebron are pissed there's an All Star game this year. lol

 

[Goyaanisqatsi]

Players like Lebron are pissed there's an All Star game this year. lol

because they know what a complete waste of time they've effectively turned it into lol.

Can't remember the year off the top of my head (pretty sure it was in the 80s) but I had recently watched the All-Star Game they had in the Kingdome and it was fucking awesome and felt like playoff basketball. People were playing defense, making their open shots, and putting in actual effort. The game was over 30 years old and I was enthralled the entire time.

Goddamn, the NBA used to be the tits.

 

[Based and Cringepilled]

if having players kneel during the pregame national anthem is too much change for you to accept, then move on because this generation is going to move forward without you

Nobody is gonna move forward while kneeling as long as they don't dance the Kasotzky Kick.

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

That worked out well when Darey Morey made a harmless tweet about Hong Kong, the NBA immediately denounced him, and the Chinese were still so pissed that the NBA lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to China pulling some contracts.

Edit: No joke, that tweet which was immediately deleted and denounced by both the Rockets and the NBA likely cost the NBA $400 MILLION.

Daryl Morey on Hong Kong Tweet: 'I'm very comfortable with what I did'

Daryl Morey says he fully understood the situation when he sent out a Tweet about the Hong Kong protests a year ago, but he didn't expect the backlash.

nba.nbcsports.com

you get what you fucking deserve. i still remember hong kong.

 

[Goyaanisqatsi]

Mark Cuban has officially axed the pregame National Anthem.

I'm ashamed that the Mavs were my favorite team when Dirk was active. I really wanted to support their inevitable European superteam next year when they add Giannis too.

 

[albert chan]

Mark Cuban has officially axed the pregame National Anthem.

I'm ashamed that the Mavs were my favorite team when Dirk was active. I really wanted to support their inevitable European superteam next year when they add Giannis too.

Mark Cuban was the greatest at virtue signaling. He was the reason why Donald Trump rejected him, since he was so needy for attention.

 

[Duke Nukem]

If Black Lives Matter so much then why doesnt the NBA and its players put its money where its mouth is and donate money to projects that would help black people like getting a proper education or a job or helping to stop the black on black gun crime epidemic instead of empty virtue signalling?
Oh wait that would require money and effort

I'm pretty convinced the whole "da policez iz meen 2 uz plz giv muneez" is just too good a grift to give up. They know people are going to lose interest, especially now that Donald Trump isn't president anymore. They'll be forgotten in a month and they know it, so they're trying to get people to give money that will be used to send impoverished black people to college buy a bunch of private islands and gold plated coffins or some bullshit.

 

[TowinKarz]

Mark Cuban has officially axed the pregame National Anthem.

I'm ashamed that the Mavs were my favorite team when Dirk was active. I really wanted to support their inevitable European superteam next year when they add Giannis too.

Not so fast, NBA said they expect it to be played, he might have gone too woke for even the Black Lives Matter League with this one, the Biden Admin reportedly is in favor of it though, to no surprise....

 

[JosephStalin]

Here's an article re the NBA and the national anthem by some Yahoo soyboy weepy whiner. Someone needs to shove a basketball up his ass. Fuck him, fully.

NBA's social currency is gone after national anthem decision​

Vincent Goodwill
Wed, February 10, 2021, 4:27 PM


If there was ever any doubt, a single statement from the NBA’s league office sealed it.

The moment is over.

The racial reckoning that opened eyes around the country, buoyed by the nation’s most prominent Black Americans — NBA players — has come and gone.

Mark Cuban’s subtle but effective act of removing the national anthem before the start of Dallas Mavericks home games caught the ire of the NBA, which stomped all over Cuban and proclaimed things shall return to normal with fans returning to arenas soon enough.

Who knows the reason for Adam Silver squandering a golden opportunity to subtly change a single issue that has caused more consternation than joy, wasting a chance to be this change agent he so boldly wants to be known as.

Yes, it’s Cuban. He’s annoying and searches every nook for the cranny in all of the rules. Nobody has forgotten Cuban allowed an atmosphere of sexual harassment in the workplace, prompting a seven-month investigation, $10 million fine and apology tour.

That makes him flawed, in addition to being a rebel.

But even rebels have a cause.

“We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country,” Cuban said in a statement following the NBA’s smackdown. “But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been.” Perhaps the NBA allowed its collective ego to get in the way, not wanting Cuban to be the change agent in such an audacious and public way on the back end. Cuban created a conversation as opposed to the NBA doing it, so could it be it’s the “how” and not the actual principle?

If not, Silver kowtowed to an enemy who isn’t paying him much mind right now, a treasonous crowd that drapes its betrayal in a flag, assigning a value that is only as valuable as those in power allow it to have.

The lyrics, the problematic subsequent verses we never hear about, don’t have Black people in mind. The same Black people who create the revenue for themselves and other rich folks to get richer from.

The NBA missed a huge opportunity with how they are handling the national anthem. (AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

It’s Black fans, the Black players, who only matter so much in the pursuit of more money and approval of the racists who’ll never give it.

One team owner, nowhere near a rabble-rouser, told this reporter the “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be replaced by “America the Beautiful.”

But nobody would hardly notice, given the fans who pick their noses or are late arriving or in luxury suites getting their second cocktail.

The custom is the issue, not even the song — and truthfully, “America the Beautiful” could be perceived the same way.
Standing is a political statement if the act of sitting or kneeling is to be taken the same way.

So the controversy could be removed, easing the burdens for all parties involved — even Meyers Leonard.

The NBA had its chance to capitalize on the unfortunate circumstances created by COVID-19, an opportunity to establish new norms nobody would truly fight back against once fans are allowed to convene en masse.

Had there been no national anthem played before games, how many fans would’ve truly noticed, cared or made a stink?
Silver and the NBA had a window, opened when it took the bold stance of placing “Black Lives Matter” on its floor in the Orlando bubble for everyone to see every time players crossed half court — amplified when its players had slogans on the backs of their jerseys, reiterated during Zoom conferences during the final regular-season games and playoffs.
And although there was some pushback, the world kept going round.

It was innovative, inspirational, and even if the envelope could’ve been pushed further, there was social currency Silver gained among the players and even the public for the encouragement of employees to be heard.

It was something his predecessor, David Stern, might not have done. But Stern, even as the Emperor, appealed to the aspirational part of fans he had to win over.

Silver had his chance to emulate Stern, to be the best of both worlds. Everyone will grumble about the All-Star day (not exactly a weekend) in Atlanta, but they’ll largely deal when it comes time — a decision made in cold-hearted capitalism, which Stern would’ve certainly appreciated.

But Silver could’ve told the fans, “You will be fine. You don’t come to the game to hear the national anthem. You come to see these amazing athletes and to commune in ways you haven’t been able to in over a year.”

Advertisers weren’t going to run away, because as much as ratings are down for ALL live sports — including the Super Bowl — it is still a bankable commodity with a guaranteed audience.

And it would be a worse look for any company to go against the NBA in the eyes of the public because like it or not, America worships at the altar of sports.

And yes, sports operate at the behest of the money, but the money wasn’t going to put up that fight, not in these times. There was no “Black Lives Matter” on floors this season, and not even a milquetoast saying like “Education Reform” on the backs of jerseys. The NFL has long been the moral punching bag but having “It takes all of us” in the back of the end zone is more than what the NBA has on its floors.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said his franchise will resume playing the national anthem. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Cuban - OWNED! - JS)

The NBA has done good things and will continue to do so, even if using HBCUs for its attempt to soften the All-Star Game in Atlanta feels a bit icky.

Opposition was sure to come, but if Silver hasn’t noticed, that crowd is a little busy right now.

If decisions were made in fear of a man in the White House, he’s out of sight and off the Twitter grid, dealing with an impeachment hearing that could keep him from running for office again. (Guess again, dumbass. Trump 2024! - JS)

His Republican party, the group that openly claims never to attend or watch an NBA game again, cannot be courted or negotiated with.

Some of them, as illustrated by the events at the U.S. Capitol last month, are terrorists. (Yeah, just like your BLM/Antifa pals. Fuck you. - JS)

Some of them are on trial and won’t have a meaningful say in the future discourse of things anyways.

Why fear them?

But the middle crowd is always growing, and the NBA could still get a piece of the growing pie by pressing just a little bit more, or by doing the right thing and acting in the best interests of its players who clearly feel the words of the anthem don’t apply to them. Perhaps Silver, ever the optimist, is showing the side of a pragmatist. Or maybe even a pessimist.
Maybe he knows deep down this country will never live up to the ideals it purports itself to be with its relation to Black people.

Maybe that’s the case because people like him keep giving country to those who fail to see Black folks as equal.

There are plenty of instances where the anthem has been performed with some of the most soulful voices, be it Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey.

Those voices were often cultivated in the face of struggle, pain and morphed into something beautiful.
But that pain and soul only has a place in the name of capitalistic gain, which makes Silver and the NBA just like everybody else. (Don't like capitalism? Quit your job, then, bitch. - JS)

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nb-as-social-currency-is-gone-after-national-anthem-decision-002750572.html

https://archive.vn/7I6XM

 

[albert chan]

The thumbnail is a perfect example of Mark Cuban:

amateur shrewd/edgy businessman who thinks he can speak for the entirety of the NBA all because he had a 7’ ft. Dirk Nowitzki on his team.

 

[Salubrious]

Not so fast, NBA said they expect it to be played, he might have gone too woke for even the Black Lives Matter League with this one, the Biden Admin reportedly is in favor of it though, to no surprise....

Nah, someone on the Sports Wars came up with a theory, and I believe it.

Let's say that the NBA wanted to ban the national anthem leaguewide, but take the smallest PR hit possible. What do you do?

1) Get one team (aka Mavs) to ban it.
2) Come out and pretend to care, saying "no, you can't do that."
3) Wait for Social Media, MSM, and National news pundits to reeeeee.
4) NBA says that they "heard the people's message" and will ban it league wide.

That Yahoo column above is Step 3. I'm cynical enough to believe that the NBA wants the national anthem banned, and will claim that it's because there was such an outcry for it.

Credit:

 

[TowinKarz]

5. Viewership, advertisement and fan interest drops again, players, eyeing smaller contracts, panic and find the next "hidden racist" thing in the league to ban/whine about as the real reason/gain sympathy. Go to 10.

 

[Buttigieg2020]

Nah, someone on the Sports Wars came up with a theory, and I believe it.

Let's say that the NBA wanted to ban the national anthem leaguewide, but take the smallest PR hit possible. What do you do?

1) Get one team (aka Mavs) to ban it.
2) Come out and pretend to care, saying "no, you can't do that."
3) Wait for Social Media, MSM, and National news pundits to reeeeee.
4) NBA says that they "heard the people's message" and will ban it league wide.

That Yahoo column above is Step 3. I'm cynical enough to believe that the NBA wants the national anthem banned, and will claim that it's because there was such an outcry for it.

Credit:

Idk what’s going on anymore

here’s NBC’s take

It seems woke media wants the national anthem, because you can’t kneel if there’s no anthem.

 

[Beavis]

I never saw the point in playing the national anthem before every game. It should be reserved for things like the finals or a Super Bowl.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

It seems woke media wants the national anthem, because you can’t kneel if there’s no anthem.

I have some doubts then they will kneel if the NBA play the national anthem of China.

 

[BrownPhillip]

I never saw the point in playing the national anthem before every game. It should be reserved for things like the finals or a Super Bowl.

Absolutely. The national anthem should be played in its entirety within very special events.
And treated with the utmost respect by athletes that were gifted amazing oportunities to turn incredibly wealthy by their team owners, local schools, their cities, their states, and most importantly by America and americans themselves, whom pay their hard earned money to watch them play.