From start to finish, the 2019-20 NBA season was mired in political controversy. The campaign began with an international business crisis, prompted by then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeting support for the Hong Kong protesters, and ended with the league and its players at the center of the raucous nationwide debate over racial justice.
This year, it’s apparent the NBA wants to take a pause.
On Tuesday, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed his team had stopped playing the national anthem before home games. Fans were allowed at Dallas’ American Airlines Center for the first time Monday (tickets were provided to 1,500 vaccinated healthcare workers and first-responders).
The revelation quickly started trending, and reignited the long-running debate about playing the national anthem before sporting events. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was even asked about President Joe Biden’s opinion on the practice.
On Wednesday afternoon, the NBA issued a statement clarifying every team will play the national anthem before games going forward. The league was aware of Dallas’ decision to amend its pregame operations while it was playing without fans.
An NBA spokesperson didn’t provide additional comment.
In an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, Cuban said he decided to cease playing the “Star-Spangled Banner” after holding conversations with players and people in the community. “In listening to the community, there were quite a few people who voiced their concerns, really their fears that the national anthem did not fully represent them, that their voices were not being heard,” he said.
While NBA guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf stopped standing for the anthem in 1996, citing America’s history of oppression, the issue became supercharged when Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the song in 2016. The San Francisco 49ers didn’t re-sign Kaepernick the following offseason, and he’s been out of the league ever since. In 2017, President Donald Trump poured verbal gasoline on the issue, calling kneeling NFL players “sons of bitches.”
When the NBA season resumed amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, kneeling during the anthem became commonplace. Many of the league’s superstars, led by LeBron James, spoke out about Black victims of police brutality, and players went on strike following the shooting of an unarmed Black man in Milwaukee. The NBA painted the “Black Lives Matter” logo on the court, while players wore social justice slogans on jerseys in-lieu of their surnames.
Meanwhile, TV ratings declined 51%, with the NBA Finals were down 49%. There are multiple possible explanations for the steep fall, including the proliferation of cord-cutting and upended schedules. Nearly every sports league experienced ratings declines in 2020.
But some findings indicate fans were not enamored with the players’ social commentary. A September Harris Poll found 39% of sports fans were watching fewer NBA games, with 38% of that sample saying the league had become “too political.” In addition, 19% of fans cited the league’s lucrative relationship with China, a sign that attacks from Republicans, who frequently criticized the NBA for its acquiescence to Beijing, were resonating.
In a nod to those numbers, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last fall the league’s social justice messaging would be scaled back in 2021 — even though he’s also said there’s “no data” that shows it negatively impacted ratings. “My sense is there will be somewhat a return to normalcy,” Silver told ESPN. “That message will largely be left to be delivered off the floor. And I understand those people who are saying, ‘I’m on your side, but I want to watch a basketball game.’”
NBA ratings have increased so far this season, with national numbers up 34% through Martin Luther King Day. Once again, there are many potential explanations, beginning with the fact NBA games are now being played during their usual time, opposed to the late-summer and early fall.
But the league’s anthem edict shows they don’t want to take any chances. So far, the biggest stories this season have been trade requests and blockbuster deals. The NBA seemingly wants to keep it that way.
This post has been updated.
