Mark Cuban Told Mavericks to Stop Playing National Anthem
UPDATE AT 1:45 ON 2/10/21:
In response to Mark Cuban saying the Dallas Mavericks will no longer play the national anthem before home games, the NBA said "all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy."
News spread quickly last night when the media found out that the Dallas Mavericks did not play the National Anthem before yesterday's game. Mark Cuban later confirmed in a statement to ESPN, that the Mavericks do not plan to resume the tradition to play the national anthem before games in the future. Mark Cuban did not comment further on the issue. The decision did come after Cuban consulted with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. According to the NBA rulebook, Players are required to stand during the National Anthem. However, Commissioner Silver has not enforced that rule.
The Dallas Mavericks have not announced the change in policy, but the national anthem has not been played before any of their 13 preseason and regular-season games at the American Airlines Center this season. I was not aware of this until now.
This isn't the first time that the Dallas Mavericks have not played the National Anthem before games. As reported by the New York Times, in the first 16 years of the Dallas Mavericks existence, 'God Bless America' was played before games and not the National Anthem. At the time Donald Carter owned the team. The Mavericks began to play the National Anthem after the team was purchased by Ross Perot Jr. Cuban bought the Mavs in 2000.
The Dallas Mavericks are currently 11-14 and are in 3rd to last in the Western Conference.