Former US women's goalkeeper says Megan Rapinoe would 'bully' teammates into kneeling during the anthem



In recent years, the United States women's soccer team has become more widely recognized for its pregame political posturing than for its dominance on the field — and now one former team member is going public with criticism for the way things have operated.

What are the details?

In a podcast interview Monday, former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo opened up about the palpable internal conflict on the team during her time as a member, specifically calling out forward Megan Rapinoe for pressuring others to comply with her progressive activism.

"I think the rhetoric surrounding this team has been both divisive and inclusive. I guess it's kind of where we are in politics in this day and age," Solo told Goal.com on "All of Us: The U.S. Women's Soccer Show."

"I think the kneeling thing can be very divisive," she continued. "I've seen Megan Rapinoe almost bully players into kneeling because she really wants to stand up for something in her particular way."

"I think that's really hard being on the main stage right now with so many political issues for athletes, there's a lot of pressure," she added.

What's the background?

Rapinoe and several of her teammates on the women's national team have adopted the practice of kneeling during the national anthem when it is played before games as a form of political protest. She and others have also been outspoken on a number of other issues, including equal pay for female athletes.

Until now, there haven't been any reports of forced kneeling or backlash against those who chose not to join in the protest, though it's true that a large majority of players have knelt when permitted. Solo appeared to indicate that at least some form of pressure to conform was present.

The team's brash activism has drawn scrutiny from many fans. During the Tokyo Olympics last month, fellow Americans admitted they rooted against the team during the tournament and actually cheered their semifinal loss to Canada.

Anything else?

Solo has not been a member of the team since 2016, but she and Rapinoe played together for 10 years prior to that, beginning in 2006. The pair won a World Cup and two Olympic gold medals together in that span.

The goalkeeper ended up withdrawing from the team and retiring after off-field incidents damaged her reputation. Solo was arrested in 2014 and charged with assaulting two of her family members. Then in 2016, she was suspended by the U.S. national team after calling the Swedish national team a "bunch of cowards" following a face-off in the Olympics.

Subway franchise owners fed up with woke spokeswoman Megan Rapinoe's TV ads; customers call for restaurant boycott over 'anti-American' behavior



Some Subway franchise owners are fed up with U.S. women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe and her apparent aversion to American patriotism.

What's a brief history here?

Rapinoe, whom Subway hired in April for an advertisement, can be seen in the TV spot kicking a ball that knocks a burrito out of a man's hand before she tells him to eat a Subway sandwich instead.

Rapinoe most recently made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem while kicking off the Tokyo Games.

In response to what many are calling Rapinoe's woke activism, consumers are calling for a boycott of the popular quick-service sandwich restaurant if they refuse to remove Rapinoe as a brand spokesperson.

What are the details?

According to a Fox Business report, the response to the company naming Rapinoe as brand pitchwoman has been "mixed."

"Last last month on a discussion forum hosted by the North American Association of Subway Franchisees, a Wisconsin store owner posted a picture of a hand-scrawled note from an irate customer taped to the front door of his shop," the report noted. The note, the outlet reported, read "Boycott Subway until Subway fires the anti-American ... Megan Rapinoe, the creep who kneels for our beloved National Anthem!"

The unnamed franchisee agreed, "The ad should be pulled and done with. It gets tiring apologizing."

NAASF representatives last week told members that the group had heard a variety of complaints over the Rapinoe ads and had taken them to company's Chief Executive John Chidsey.

A letter obtained by the New York Post revealed that the group's executive director, Illya Berecz, told franchisees, "Your NAASF Board has already communicated with [Subway] leadership the concerns voiced by NAASF membership."

"I had a bunch of franchisees calling me on this today," Berecz told franchisees. "They are trying to get the ads pulled."

According to a Monday report from the Daily Mail, Rapinoe's "woke politics" and political activism are sending away customers in droves.

Mashed reported that much of the criticism against Rapinoe representing Subway "stems from the soccer player's stance on police violence and bringing awareness of brutality and racism in the U.S."

"Your ad using Megan Rapinoe makes me think twice about even visiting Subway," one social media user insisted, according to the outlet. "She is a very negative representation of our nation, and I don't want to support her."

Another customer, the outlet noted, said that they and the rest of their family will "avoid" Subway as long as Rapinoe is a brand ambassador.

Former Acting Director of the United States National Intelligence Richard Grenell shared a video featuring proud American Olympian Tamyra Mensah-Stock and tweeted, "cc: @SUBWAY Dump the ungrateful @mPinoe and hire this patriot."

cc: @SUBWAYDump the ungrateful @mPinoe and hire this patriot. https://t.co/4DAs4VkXWX

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) 1628069359.0

Author Nick Adams added, "RT if you won't eat @SUBWAY until they FIRE America hating Megan Rapinoe!"

RT if you won't eat @SUBWAY until they FIRE America hating Megan Rapinoe!

— Nick Adams (@NickAdamsinUSA) 1628392159.0

Author Brigitte Gabriel agreed, adding, "Until Subway DUMPS Megan Rapinoe, patriots won't eat there!"

Until Subway DUMPS Megan Rapinoe, patriots won't eat there!cc: @SUBWAY

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) 1628389458.0

Fellow Americans say they rooted against 'woke' US women's soccer team, were happy about loss to Canada that eliminated US from Olympic gold medal hunt



The road to an Olympic gold medal came to end for the once-dominant U.S. women's soccer team Tuesday after a 1-0 semifinal loss to Canada that Yahoo Sports described as "listless."

The team's best hope now is winning the bronze medal game Friday, the outlet said.

Backlash against Americans — by Americans

But what may be even bigger news is the outpouring of contempt for the "woke" squad and a number of its crusading players who arguably have become better known for staging kneeling protests against America prior to games.

In fact, the Yahoo Sports story is being inundated with comments from Americans who indicated they actually were rooting against the U.S. women's team and were happy about the loss:

  • "I can't believe I'm happy a Canadian team beat our U.S. team, but that's how these woke soccer players who injected politics into the Olympics made me feel," one commenter wrote.
  • "I'm an American, but was cheering for Canada," another commenter said.
  • "Maybe if they spent more time playing soccer and less time embarrassing America they would have done better," another commenter observed. "First time I ever rooted for a U.S. team to lose."
  • "I never thought I'd live long enough to root against a U.S. team in the Olympics," another commenter said. "Then again, these protesters in shorts weren't really representing the U.S."
  • "Outstanding!" another commenter declared. "They don't deserve to represent this country, and I'm glad they lost."
  • "Looks like they shoulda practiced soccer a bit more ... than politics," another commenter noted. "As an American, I am sad to be so glad. Hope they lose the bronze, too."
  • "Glad to see this," another commenter said. "If you can't respect and represent the country that sent you there, then you don't belong on that podium."
  • "Y'all wanted to be 'woke' cause that's the hip thing to do, disrespect the flag and those who sacrificed for it, and act ugly by protesting and throwing tantrums?" another commenter asked. "Karma's got ya. I'm glad you lost, and I hope you won't get bronze, either, cause you don't deserve it."

One commenter took aim at outspoken U.S. player Megan Rapinoe, who began making a name for herself after kneeling for the national anthem a la Colin Kaepernick several years ago: "I'm so happy to see Team Rapinoe go home without Gold or Silver. They deserved what they got, and now hopefully Rapinoe loses the pedestal the media has placed her on."

'Sucks'

Yahoo Sports added that "the Americans fell short of the final because they were poor, throughout the Games and here on a sleepy, sticky-hot evening at the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. They had no rhythm. No composure. No verve."

"Sucks," Rapinoe said in response to a question about what was going through her head at final whistle, the outlet. "Really s**tty."

According to Yahoo Sports, she added: "We just — I don't know. It's not like we have a bad vibe. The group is feeling good and everything. But we just haven't been able to find that juice that we normally do. So, just, yeah, sucks."

The U.S. women's team suffered a shutout loss to Sweden in its opening-round contest at the Tokyo Olympics — and after it staged a kneeling protest. It was the U.S. women's first defeat since January 2019, and ESPN said the American players looked "confused" and "rattled" against Sweden.

ESPN added in regard to the U.S. women's team that "to say the reigning Women's World Cup champions arrived in Japan as a favorite is perhaps an understatement. The U.S. has reached the gold medal match in five of the six Olympics Games since women's soccer became an event ..."

'Nauseating smugness'

"The nauseating smugness finally smacked the team in the choppers," another commenter on the Yahoo Sports story wrote while another observer added, "This soccer team needs to read these comments. They should be ashamed how their fellow Americans feel about them."

Herschel Walker knocks woke athletes protesting at the Olympics: 'If people don’t like the rules, why are you here?'



Venerated former professional football player Herschel Walker doesn't understand why there are athletes carrying out performative protests at the Tokyo Olympics. Walker, who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics, has one simple question for woke athletes protesting at the Olympics: "Why are you here?"

Walker, who is rumored to be considering a U.S. Senate run in Georgia, gave an interview to Fox News, where he discussed current-day Olympic athletes and the rush of patriotism he experienced when he was a member of the United States' Olympic bobsleigh team.

"People think I'm very harsh when I say this," Walker said on Friday. "This is the United States of America, and if people don't like the rules here — and there's no doubt we can make some things better — but if people don't like the rules here, why are you here?"

Walker questioned whether the Olympics is "the right place" for Americans to protest their country since there are foreign athletes "who would love to represent the United States of America" if they were ever given the opportunity.

"It's very sad to me because any other country… I can promise you… they would not be representing that country," he added. "I totally disagree with it, but they have the right to do it, even though I think it's wrong. We have to have leaders that… are going to stand up and say the right thing."

Walker, who was one of the greatest college football players of all time, was a member of Team USA's two-man bobsled team at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. The 59-year-old Walker described representing America in the 1992 Olympics as "one of the proudest moments" of his life.

"When I started seeing the United States flag and started seeing the people, the uniform, all my teammates from all different sports coming into that stadium — it almost brought a tear to my eye when I started thinking of where I grew up as a boy in my little hometown, and now having the chance to represent the United States of America," Walker reminisced. "I couldn't have been more proud of anything."

"All of my brothers and sisters were White, but I was [more proud] than anything. I would've died for that group over in France if I had to," Walker said of the USA bobsled team. "[They were] my family. … I couldn't have asked for anything better. I grew up in South Georgia — never, never could have dreamed of anything like that."

Walker's comments stem from woke American athletes staging social justice protests.

Hammer thrower Gwen Berry sparked outrage for turning away from the American flag as the national anthem played at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials last month after she finished in third place in the event. She also revealed a black T-shirt with the words "Activist Athlete" near the end of the national anthem. Only days after the highly publicized protest, internet users unearthed problematic tweets involving racist comments and rape "jokes."

The United States women's soccer team took a knee before its opening-round contest against Sweden in the Tokyo Olympics. After kneeling to make a statement against racism and other forms of discrimination, Team USA lost 3-0 to Sweden, the first loss for the women's soccer team since January 2019.

Crusading US women's soccer players take a knee in another woke protest before opening Olympic contest — and lose for first time since January 2019



The United States women's soccer team took a knee before its opening-round contest Wednesday against Sweden in the Tokyo Olympics, Yahoo Sports reported. Yet another woke protest from the dominant squad that's become as widely known for its politics as for its skill on the field.

Oops

But Team USA went on to lose 3-0 to Sweden — its first defeat since January 2019. ESPN said the American players looked "confused" and "rattled."

US Women’s soccer falls flat vs. Sweden, Team USA Softball tops Italy | What You Missed https://t.co/obuQpm0mQm

— Futball News (@FutballNews_) 1626877564.0

More from the sports network:

To say the reigning Women's World Cup champions arrived in Japan as a favorite is perhaps an understatement. The U.S. has reached the gold-medal match in five of the six Olympics Games since women's soccer became an event, and unlike some of the teams in Tokyo, the USWNT has played warm-up games for the months leading up to this amid the pandemic.

But the defeat was also notable because of just how bad the loss was. Confused expressions abound as players, including [midfielder Rose] Lavelle, looked for an open American to pass the ball to but couldn't find anyone. As Sweden swarmed, pressing and bossing the midfield, the Americans looked rattled and gave the ball away too cheaply.

"It felt like there were holes everywhere defensively," striker Alex Morgan said, according to ESPN. "I didn't feel like we were pressing together, and then when we were on the attack and we'd lose the ball, we didn't have the numbers around the ball to win it back."

US women upset by Sweden 3-0 in first soccer match of 2021 Olympics https://t.co/bLuB8FR4lm https://t.co/jxg5miYoVj

— Scripps National News (@ScrippsNational) 1626872401.0

What are the details about the pre-game kneeling?

It wasn't as if Team USA was alone in its kneeling protest. The Swedish players all took a knee, too — as did a referee, Yahoo Sports said.

"They stayed there for about 10 seconds with pregame music still playing in the background," the outlet noted. "They then rose, and a short in-stadium countdown to kickoff commenced."

Yahoo Sports said the "demonstrations were pre-planned, as they have been before various international soccer matches for over a year now as collective statements against racism and other forms of discrimination."

It was far from the first time Team USA took a knee. And the squad's most prominent player — the uber-woke Megan Rapinoe — began making a name for herself after kneeling for the national anthem a la Colin Kaepernick.

But Team USA stood for national anthem

Yahoo Sports added that all 18 USWNT players stood for the anthem Wednesday, adding that it's "unclear if a protest during the anthem would be acceptable under the new IOC rules. (National anthems aren't played before many Olympic events — only afterward, during medal ceremonies.)"

While protests during competitions and medal ceremonies are still prohibited, the outlet said related rules have been relaxed in the run up to the Tokyo Games.

More from Yahoo Sports:

The infamous Rule 50 had long prohibited athletes from ... engaging in most forms of protest at Olympic events. In January 2020, the IOC specifically barred kneeling and fist-raising, among other acts, at all Olympic venues, at any point before, during or after a competition.

But pressure from athletes who felt the rules infringed upon their freedom of expression — and especially from black athletes, some of whom felt targeted by the guidelines — increased beginning last June. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's Athletes Advisory Council called for an abolishment of Rule 50 last summer. The USOPC, after forming a racial and social justice council, followed in calling on the IOC to "end the prohibition of peaceful demonstrations" at the Games.

In response, the IOC staged a lengthy review of the rule. It initially announced that it would, effectively, maintain the restrictions. But athletes, such as U.S. hammer thrower Gwen Berry, said the rules wouldn't stop them from protesting racial injustice. The IOC essentially sought a compromise, and announced in early July that demonstrations before competitions would be allowed.

Anything else?

Other protesting teams included Great Britain and Chile, as players from both teams took a knee before their Wednesday game, the outlet reported. In addition, New Zealand players also took a knee while Australian players "stood with their arms around one another at the center circle, after earlier posing with the Australian Aboriginal Flag," Yahoo Sports added.

NFL gearing up for an onslaught of social justice messaging during 2021 season: Report



The National Football League is reportedly set to roll out even more social justice messaging for the 2021 season, Front Office Sports reports.

What are the details?

The league, according the outlet's Michael McCarthy, will "introduce more social justice messaging on fields and player helmets during the upcoming 2021 season, following up on initial efforts from 2020."

Some methods of sharing the messages include "on-field signage, decals on player helmets, and in-stadium PSAs," and the NFL also reportedly plans to consistently highlight "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which is often referred to as the "black national anthem, in key events such as the Super Bowl and NFL Kickoff game.

McCarthy wrote, "The league's TV partners typically only televise anthems before special games such as Opening Night or the Super Bowl. So expect viewers of the game telecast on NBC Sports to hear both 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' and 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'"

The league previously featured "Lift Every Voice and Sing" before February's Super Bowl LV and April's NFL Draft.

"The overarching theme for all of the league's cause-marketing efforts this season will be: 'It Takes All of Us,'" the outlet reports. "But in-stadium messaging will be more 'targeted' this year — culminating with the 'Inspire Change' theme during weeks 17-18, said sources."

Other messages include "End Racism," "My Cause My Cleats," and more.

The NFL in 2020 pledged $250 million in an effort to combat systemic racism over the next 10 years.

The league declined to comment on the report, McCarthy's report noted.

What else?

In May, the league announced the renewal of nine national grant partners to the tune of $2.5 million for its "Inspire Change" social justice initiative.

The nine renewed grants, a press release from the organization stated, were approved by the Social Justice Working Group, which is composed of team owners and 10 players.

The league's "Inspire Change" pillars, according to the release, include criminal justice reform, economic advancement, education, and police-community relations.

According to the release, the nine grant partners in question have positively impacted communities in fighting to end cash bail, pretrial detention, and more.

"Our grant partners are instrumental to the success of Inspire Change and the societal impact the NFL is striving to make across the country," Anna Isaacson, NFL senior vice president, social responsibility, said in a statement. "These organizations are rooted in their communities, working hard to provide necessary resources that create real change. The NFL family is committed to their missions, proud of their successes and inspired by their efforts to open up access to opportunity and equality in the ongoing fight for social justice."

Kelvin Beachum, Players Coalition Task Force member, Social Justice Working Group member, and Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman, added, "Players Coalition is committed to working with the NFL Player-Owner Social Justice Working Group, ensuring that Inspire Change grants are distributed to organizations who are committed to improving social and racial justice, with a focus on police and community relations, education, economic advancement, and criminal justice reform."

You can read more about the initiative here.

Tennessee GOP lawmakers urge university presidents to prohibit student-athletes from kneeling for the national anthem



Every Republican state senator in Tennessee signed onto a letter recently urging university presidents in the state to prevent student-athletes from kneeling during the national anthem before games.

"In light of recent news reports, we want to address the issue of our student athletes kneeling during the National Anthem prior to sports competitions," the senators wrote on Monday in reference to a decision by members of the East Tennessee State University men's basketball team to kneel during the anthem last week in protest of racial inequality.

In the letter, the senators called the anthem "a symbol of pride for America" that "lifts our spirits toward the ideals upon which our great country was founded" and "represents not only the freedoms we enjoy as Americans but the ultimate sacrifice paid by many in order for us to enjoy those freedoms."

"When they don the jersey of a Tennessee university, they step out of their personal roles and into the role of an ambassador for our state," the letter continued. "We expect all those who walk onto the field of play representing our universities to also walk onto the field of play to show respect for our National Anthem."

"To address this issue, we encourage each of you to adopt policies within your respective athletic departments to prohibit any such actions moving forward," the senators finally stated.

https://t.co/jAib29QypP
— Sen. Paul Bailey (@Sen. Paul Bailey)1614106024.0

Of course, the senators do not explicitly call for student-athletes who kneel to be punished. But punishment is implicit in their request. After all, how else could university presidents "prohibit" student-athletes from kneeling except by implementing some form of penalty or punishment for doing so?

As should have been expected, the senators' request immediately garnered criticism for potentially trampling on the students' First Amendment right to free speech.

A parody account on Twitter, called "The First Amendment," scolded the senators, suggesting, "Try reading me again or, you know, for the first time."

Reason writer Robby Soave slammed the senators' request as "a particularly galling example of Republicans seeking to use the power of the state to squelch speech that they don't like."

According to the Tennessean, during a joint session of Congress in Tennessee, some state lawmakers questioned whether broad freedom of speech extends to athletes in uniform at public universities.

One Republican representative, Sen. Mark Pody, called it concerning that student-athletes would engage in an act of protest while "they're taking state money, they're in our state schools, in our state uniforms."

However, the fact is that students at public universities enjoy broad free speech protections, and those rights outlined and reinforced in the student codes of conduct.

Notably, in the landmark decision of Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court ruled that students "do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

Jemele Hill says ‘patriotic symbols have been weaponized’ to ‘undermine and diminish the humanity of black and brown Americans’



Sports journalist and writer Jemele Hill declared recently that sports should absolutely nix the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" ahead of games because the practice has merely become an "empty gesture of patriotism."

Hill also insisted that the national anthem and the American flag have both been "weaponized" against U.S. citizens in order to "undermine and diminish the humanity of black and brown Americans."

What are the details?

In an article for the Atlantic titled "The Problem with Mandatory Patriotism in Sports," Hill wrote, "Playing 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at sporting events has become an empty gesture of patriotism — so empty that, when the NBA's Dallas Mavericks quietly began skipping the ritual, 13 preseason and regular-season games passed before anyone noticed."

Hill was referring to last week's news that the Dallas Mavericks stopped playing the national anthem before games.

Following the news, the NBA almost immediately responded and said that the national anthem must be played before all games in accordance with league rules. Its response was reportedly a direct rebuff of the Mavericks' decision.

"The Mavericks should have held their ground," Hill reasoned, "because playing the national anthem shouldn't be a pregame ritual in American sports. No during a time when many people — including many athletes of color — are deeply uncomfortable with how patriotic symbols have been weaponized to undermine and diminish the humanity of black and brown Americans."

National anthem has been interpreted as 'mocking or threatening' black people

Insisting that the NBA should altogether revisit its national anthem rule, Hill added, "The ritual enforces a rote, narrow idea of patriotism — one that pro sports should be working to change, not uphold."

"The anthem has always represented the nation's hypocrisy more so than its promises," she insisted. "The lyricist was Francis Scott Key, a Maryland slave owner who once said that Africans in America were a 'distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.' Key wrote the song during the War of 1812. The second half of its third verse — which includes the lyric 'No refuge could save the hireling and slave, from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave' — has been interpreted as mocking or threatening the black people who escaped their enslavers and fought for the British."

Hill continued, pointing out that the national anthem, "was meant to rally spectators around American democracy" during sporting events that dated back to the Civil War.

"The song that eventually became the national anthem was meant to rally spectators around American democracy — even if conditions in the United States were deeply unequal," she added.

Trump and conservatives were able to 'hijack the conversation'

In contemporary society, Hill noted, "Commentators who did not object when the anthem was used for conservative causes became indignant when Colin Kaepernick used it in 2016 to draw attention to police violence against black people."

"In taking a knee during 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' the former NFL quarterback unwittingly created an opportunity for former President Donald Trump and other conservatives to hijack the conversation," Hill insisted. "As a candidate and as president, Trump criticized Kaepernick's protest to score political points. Real patriots stood for the anthem, Trump and his supporters insisted. And in their view, those who stood – or peacefully kneeled — against injustice were traitors."

During Trump's presidency, Hill pointed out, Americans were subjected to "far too many images of white supremacists waving the national flag" while "shouting patriotic slogans."

"The insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol did just that, even as they tried to overturn a free election," Hill wrote. "Trump any many other Republicans who impugned Kaepernick's patriotism now want the rest of the country to ignore the Capitol riot and move on. If it wasn't clear before why people of color feel uncomfortable with the conservative definition of patriotism, it should be now."

Hill concluded, "Mandatory patriotism doesn't give Americans reason for pride; it only highlights the country's failures."

NBA says national anthem will be played before games — reportedly in response to Mark Cuban saying Mavericks weren't playing it



That didn't take long.

On the heels of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban saying the national anthem wasn't being played before his team's home games, the National Basketball Association on Wednesday issued a statement saying the anthem indeed will be played.

"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," NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass said in a statement.

According to MarketWatch, the league's statement was "in response" to Cuban's anthem revelation.

NBA announces all teams will play national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy. https://t.co/h66Q7sm7Ge
— Josh Caplan (@Josh Caplan)1612984327.0

Which is quite a shift from NBA spokesman Tim Frank's earlier statement to the Associated Press, according to NBC Sports: "Under the unique circumstances of this season, teams are permitted to run their pregame operations as they see fit."

Did Cuban have anything else to say?

The New York Times reported that Cuban said "we are good with it" in regard to the league's insistence on the anthem being played:

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to @NYTSports on the league's decision to mandate the playing of the national anthem bef… https://t.co/9cOePDPYcD
— Marc Stein (@Marc Stein)1612983882.0

But as you might expect, the opinionated owner reportedly had other things to say following the NBA's declaration.

Shams Charania of the Athletic tweeted that "Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks will resume playing the Anthem tonight vs. Atlanta."

Charania added a partial statement from Cuban: "We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. I have always stood for the anthem with [my] hand over my heart — not matter where I hear it play. But we also hear the voices of those who do not feel the anthem represents them. We feel they also need to be respected and heard, because they have not been heard."

Cuban reportedly added in the statement that "the hope is that those who feel passionate about the anthem being played will be just as passionate in listening to those who do not feel it represents them."

Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks will resume playing the Anthem tonight vs. Atlanta. Statement from Cuban, in pa… https://t.co/iq3mjqWfPC
— Shams Charania (@Shams Charania)1612984432.0

Anything else?

NBC Sports added that the Mavericks didn't play "The Star-Spangled Banner" through 11 home games this season and were the only NBA team to not play it — and that the decision was a direct order from Cuban. The outlet added that "there was no discussion of this because there were no fans in the building, and since the anthem is rarely shown on broadcasts it was barely noticed."

The Los Angeles Times said Cuban said last year in the Florida bubble that players and coaches have the right to kneel during the anthem. The paper said Cuban wrote — in a since-deleted tweet from July — that the "National Anthem Police in this country are out of control. 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."

Cuban told the New York Times on Tuesday night that he told the Mavericks to stop playing the anthem before its home games — and that "it was my decision, and I made it in November." He declined to comment further, the paper said.