# NBA Dallas Mavs stop playing national anthem before home games **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 10, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609 "2021-02-10T14:12:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/21 "2021-02-10T17:36:55Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > For example, in KC (a place where they booed players kneeling, IIRC) they shout “Chiefs” over “Brave” in the final line. How is that less disrespectful than silently kneeling? Because it’s mostly white dudes doing it? 🙄 You are 100% right, I have no patience for that crap either. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/22 "2021-02-10T17:55:32Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Because it’s mostly white dudes doing it? Yeah, possibly. Or it may even be simpler: “Go team!” is way less difficult to process than “there are systemic problems with law enforcement in the United States”. Folks at a game don’t want their attention brought to difficult social problems - they want to be diverted and entertained. I’m absolutely not saying that is a valid or correct, but I do think is a pretty plausible explanation. Which is why Cuban’s decision is exactly correct. If fans don’t want politics in their sports then they shouldn’t play the anthem at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/23 "2021-02-10T18:04:10Z")
NBA is 74% black and I cannot recall any players backing Trump , at least in public. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/24 "2021-02-10T19:47:56Z")
NHL Dallas stars are still using the anthem [https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1359582297905913864](https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1359582297905913864) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/25 "2021-02-10T20:07:46Z")
I follow the Premier League and they don’t play God Save the Queen before games. I don’t remember hearing anthems at other European major league games either. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/26 "2021-02-10T20:15:01Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > NHL Dallas stars are still using the anthem > > [https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1359582297905913864](https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1359582297905913864) At least the NHL (any team in any city) has the excuse that they often host foreign teams where custom demands both anthems be played. NBA? Not so much. Although anthems at bi-national games is also a custom that pro sports leagues probably ought to drop. Events like the Olympics where the team genuinely represents their entire country are a plausible reason to play national anthems. Anywhere else it’s just advertising for jingoism. Better for each team in a league to develop a theme song / fight song and play both of those before a pro game of {whatever}. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/27 "2021-02-10T20:35:50Z")
Now the [NBA](https://pr.nba.com/nba-statement-regarding-national-anthem/) is requiring that teams play the national anthem. “With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy.” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/28 "2021-02-10T20:38:42Z")
Hopefully Cuban fights this jingoistic nonsense. He’s got the money and the following to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/29 "2021-02-10T20:41:07Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Hopefully Cuban fights this jingoistic nonsense Yeah, I was hoping this would be the start of something. Now the NBA has shut it down. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/30 "2021-02-10T21:30:14Z")
for those that don’t know Cuban has been fined many times by the NBA for breaking various rules. I think in total his fines are over $1 million. Some of them were for bashing the refs. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/31 "2021-02-10T21:42:37Z")
This is surprising considering that the NBA is perhaps the least jingoistic of all 4 major pro leagues. One would expect this from the NFL but not from the NBA which has so publicly backed Black Lives Matter and whatnot before, including also having more fans in China than in the USA itself. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/32 "2021-02-10T21:54:13Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I see absolutely no reason to play the anthem before any game that isn’t some international tournament So why do we? How and why did the tradition get started? Hoping to answer my own question, I did some googling, and found that several articles have been published recently about this very question (Mental Floss had a nice, succinct explanation, but there are others in [USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/02/10/national-anthem-sports-why-played-mark-cuban-colin-kaepernick/6702871002/), [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/6957582/from-archives-history-national-anthem-sports), et al). The custom started during World War I (before it was officially the national anthem) and really got going during World War II. > **[Why Do We Sing the National Anthem at Sporting Events?](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/22150/why-do-we-sing-national-anthem-sporting-events)** > > The tradition dates back to World War I, though the tune is even older. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/33 "2021-02-10T22:05:56Z")
This is a stupid fight to pick. Stop doing “God Bless America”…absolutely. Stop doing these silly Armed Forces week co-branding…huzzah! Stop forcing everyone to applaud some jamoke who happened to enlist…yup. Stop making some handicapped Vietnam vet hobble to midfield…sure. Starting with the anthem is a losing battle. This is the equivalent of renaming schools named after Washington and Lincoln, does more to make progressive ideas look bad than it does to advance them. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/34 "2021-02-10T22:24:37Z")
Just don’t play it. Nobody will miss it. The marriage of sports and “patriotism” has always been confusing to me. Another useless tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/35 "2021-02-10T22:42:28Z")
If buying Cuban cigars in the US is so taboo, why would Cuban play the US national anthem? 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/36 "2021-02-11T15:50:35Z")
Mark Cuban has relented and will play the anthem. Whew! National crisis averted. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/37 "2021-02-11T15:57:26Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Mark Cuban has relented and will play the anthem. When will the NBA require all players to take a Loyalty o Oath to the United States before the game too? Can’t have any dirty commies on the field, don’t don’tcha know! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/38 "2021-02-11T16:01:11Z")
It could be like that scene in Catch-22. Take an oath before you sub in, take an oath before you sub out, take one before doing a free throw, take one before each quarter… ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/39 "2021-02-11T16:20:36Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > NHL Dallas stars are still using the anthem > > [https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1359582297905913864](https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1359582297905913864) Dallas stars have 6 Americans on their team out of 25 players. There are 9 Canadians, and players from 7 other countries. It’s composed of an international group of players. Playing the United States national anthem before their games is just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609/40 "2021-02-11T16:36:11Z")
The college I attended played Division I men’s hockey and before every game, both the Canadian and the American anthems were played. There always was a substantial number of Canadians on the teams. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-dallas-mavs-stop-playing-national-anthem-before-home-games/932609.md?page=3)