Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on Sunday defended football players who kneel during the national anthem out of protest after President Donald Trump said NFL teams should fire them.
Football teams snubbed Trump this weekend — some in written statements and some on the field. Several NFL owners championed their players' rights to express themselves, and in some instances, athletes and coaches linked arms on the sideline as The Star-Spangled Banner played.
Cuban, the billionaire in charge of Dallas' professional basketball team and an outspoken Trump critic, joined in support of the athletes, whose movement has been dubbed #TakeTheKnee on Twitter.
Several NFL players, starting last season with then-San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, have knelt, sat or raised fists during the anthem to protest police treatment of blacks and social injustice.
Cuban replied Sunday to a Trump supporter who tweeted at him to "keep politics out of sports."
"Want to keep politics and sports separate?" Cuban tweeted. "Don't accept donations from athletes, mgmt or owners."
Cuban seemed to be hinting at Trump's financial ties to the NFL world. His donors include several elites in the football business, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Glenstone Limited Partnership, a group that shares an address with the Cowboys' Frisco headquarters and that has state filings that show direct connections to Jones, shelled out $1 million for Trump's inauguration.
So did Houston Texans owner Bob McNair.
Other NFL owners who've given money to Trump, according to Sports Illustrated: Dan Snyder of the Washington Redskins, Shad Khan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, Woody Johnson of the New York Jets and Stan Kroenke of the Los Angeles Rams.
Jones hasn't reacted publicly to Trump's criticism of athletes who take the knee. Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett declined to give his opinion on what Trump said.
The president called the players' defiance "total disrespect."
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He's fired,' " Trump said.
But some of his NFL allies have rebuked him. McNair of the Texans called Trump's comments "divisive and counterproductive" while Kraft of the Patriots said he was "deeply disappointed" in the president's words.
"Our players are intelligent, thoughtful and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully effect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful," Kraft said in prepared statement.
Despite the backlash, Trump's tirade against the NFL continued unabated on Twitter.
Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
This report contains material from The Associated Press.
