Why have the Dallas Mavericks and Mark Cuban stopped playing the national anthem before home games?

2024-09-21 17:57:33 [资讯] 来源：影视网站起名字

The Dallas Mavericks have not played the national anthem before any of their home games so far this season, sparking intrigue over why the NBA franchise has altered its pregame ritual. The decision to halt playing the anthem was made by Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who hasn’t said much about the low-key decision but did stress to the Washington Post that it does not mean that the anthemless home-game experience will continue indefinitely. ESPN reports, however, that the “Mavericks do not plan to resume the tradition to play the national anthem before games in the future.” So, what gives?

There are a number of mundane explanations for what is certainly a rare occurrence on an American professional sports landscape that is imbued with militarized nationalism. Cuban has been cryptic but did confirm that, yes, the franchise has not played “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the American Airlines Center during the 13 preseason and regular-season home games so far and that it was his decision not to do so. One obvious, pandemic-related reason for not playing the anthem is that until this week there haven’t been any fans at any of the Mavs’ games. But the Mavs’ first game with a limited number of fans back in the seats was on Monday night, and there was still no anthem. With fans back, however, belting out the national anthem, slinging spittle everywhere, would likely not be good public health practice, so the coronavirus could still be a deciding, or at least contributing, factor.

ESPN reports that Cuban made the decision in November, before the season, in consultation with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. While players are technically required to stand for the anthem, an NBA spokesperson explained to the Athletic that “under the unique circumstances of this season, teams are permitted to run their pregame operations as they see fit.” And then there’s the most intriguing potential reason for pulling the plug on the anthem: It’s an anachronism. It’s not clear that’s the reasoning for Cuban’s decision, though he has been supportive in the past of players’ right to use the anthem to protest racial and social injustice. “The National Anthem Police in this country are out of control,” Cuban tweeted last year after offering his support to players’ taking a knee. “If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they don’t play the National Anthem every day before you start work.”

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