NBA DEALS BETTER WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP THAN THE NFL
…Golden State Warrior’s Steph Curry,
along with LeBron James, neither will visit the Trump White House
Trump calls NFL players “sons
of bitches”, to the delight of his mainly blue-collar white audience.
The National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA)
have taken completely different approaches to dealing with President Trump. While the two leagues have a different balance
of power between athletes and owners, it is fair to say the NBA has done a much better job in
handling the ugly issues of a president who delights in using African American
athletes in his race-baiting comments and in his culture wars.
While
the NFL owners have tried
to support Trump by fining teams if their players don’t stand for the
national anthem, Trump is not satisfied. He wants to dump barrels of salt in
this wound so that his white-grievance-agitated base crowd will applaud
him. If Trump had his way, he
would drag every last African American athlete out of the locker room to
stand and sing. (Even though Trump himself doesn’t know the words to his own nation’s
national anthem.)
He called NFL players “sons of bitches”, to
the delight of an overwhelmingly blue-collar, white audience. He accuses the
players of being anti-military and anti-flag. (Some of the players have actually served in the military, unlike this
“bone spur” president who avoided military service. Incidentally,
Trump hasn’t even had the decency to visit troops in
combat zones. Perhaps he is he too chicken….?)
One TV sports
pundit said, “With no Eagles around,
Trump acts like a turkey!”
As is usual
for the Trumpster, he just had to lie about and attack the Philadelphia Eagles
players.
(BTW who none of their players kneeled during the last season.) However, the Philadelphia’s mayor blasted back
at Trump. “Cities need to stand up in
this country, and many mayors have stood up against this tyrant president,” said Mayor
Jim Kenney. “He is trying to turn
this country into a dictatorship by ignoring the courts and by saying and doing
what he wants, and by ignoring the Department of Justice … and in the end this
will all come to a conclusion, and it won’t be a good ending for Trump.”
Let’s hope the
mayor is correct.
Meanwhile, one
of the greatest athletes of our time, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James,
who called Trump in a tweet a “bum”
after Trump withdrew the invite for the champion Golden State Warriors last
year, James struck back this year. After
Trump’s political stunt with dis-inviting the Eagles, James said
neither team in the championship finals “wants the invite” to the White
House. Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry and Kevin Durant seconded
that view.
Then Warriors Durant added
his own take: “What else do you expect
Trump to do? When somebody says they don’t want to come to the White House, he
dis-invites them so the photo op won’t look bad. We get it at this point. It’s
good that guys are sticking to what they believe in and what they want to do.
Like the guys said before me, I’m sure whoever wins this series won’t be going
to the White House.”
What NFL
players like James, Curry and Durant need to do next:
Malcolm
Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles says that in addressing racism in the
criminal justice system will require much more than taking a knee.
And then
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, an outspoken advocate on a number of issues said, “I think the president
has made it clear he’s going to try to divide us – all of us – in this country
for political gain. That’s just the way it is. I think we all look forward to
the day when we can go back to just having a celebration of athletic
achievement and celebrate Americans for their achievement, their good deeds.” He
noted, “The irony is that the Eagles have
been nothing but fantastic citizens in their own community. They’ve done so
much good. I’ve read a lot about their team. Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Long, these
guys are amazing. So it will be nice when we can just get back
to normal in three years.” (Kerr obviously thinks if Trump survives this term, he won't win in 2020.)
The NBA has it figured out. They are the stars. Trump is just a divisive and ignorant politician,
a petty narcissist who gladly humiliates athletes and their teams. The NBA athletes, encouraged by their
league, are engaged in all sorts of causes to make their communities
better, including protesting police violence against African
Americans. They ignore Trump and are the better for it. They have built a
rock-solid following that is racially, economically and politically diverse, and
supportive of athletes who decline to play Trump’s disgusting political games.
Meanwhile, the
NFL owners, who have screwed up
their responses to domestic violence and brain-injury controversies. And that was well before Trump came along. They are now getting played for serious suckers.
After this
latest Trump stunt, the right move would be that they all should decline to go to the
White House during the remainder of
Trump’s term. They should stand with the
players and agree that players can do as they please with regard to the anthem. Like the NBA,
they should denounce racial divisiveness.
Then, perhaps the NFL owners might earn some respect, rather than appearing disloyal to their players
and being patsies for President Trump’s race-baiting games.
Between the
owners’ pandering to Trump and their insufficient response to NFL brain injuries, many fans could later
become ex-fans.
But with most sports
fans being such die-hards, that is probably a very slim chance. However, if players like James and Curry can
stick to their guns, there is hope.
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