Mavericks are no longer playing the National Anthem - Should that be the norm

[Jvalin]

I like the anthem.  It’s a moment of unity before the game.  I don’t think it has to be a political thing.

If you ask me, it's the exact opposite: a moment of disunity. All the national anthem does is separate people. The american anthem separates americans from non-americans, the canadian anthem separates canadians from non-canadians and so on. Btw, the same goes for flags, nationalistic events like ''hoops for the troops'' etc. I'm all for stop playing national anthems. It has nothing to do with the fact I'm not an american. I'd say the exact same thing if we were talking about the national anthem of my country.

Thankfully, we don't play the national anthem before sporting events in my country. That said, some leagues have their own anthem and they play it before games. For instance, the Champions League in soccer has a beautiful anthem. The Euroleague in basketball has an anthem as well.

Here's the Champions League anthem played right before the 2018 Final. Given that soccer is massively popular throughout Europe, the Champions League Final is the european equivalent of the Super Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0cUafg_FZU

This is definitely a moment of unity for soccer fans throughout the world irrespective of their nationality.

Just because you’re not born in this country doesn’t mean you can’t be proud to be a part of it.

If someone was born in New York and moved to Seattle are you saying they’d be alienated by people that have civic pride in Seattle even though they’re apart of the same community NOW

Not all fans are americans. Not all players are americans either. In any case, national anthems separate people on the basis of nationality. That's my point.

[Erik]

Not a big fan of everyone standing for the national anthem. Just a useless patriotic gesture and a waste of time.

Having said that, we all know why this decision was made... and that is a bit annoying to me. I don’t think people are going to stop until everything tied to conservatives or nationalism is removed. It is not insensitive to think that your country is the best.

[gouki88]

I like the anthem.  It’s a moment of unity before the game.  I don’t think it has to be a political thing.

If you ask me, it's the exact opposite: a moment of disunity. All the national anthem does is separate people. The american anthem separates americans from non-americans, the canadian anthem separates canadians from non-canadians and so on. Btw, the same goes for flags, nationalistic events like ''hoops for the troops'' etc. I'm all for stop playing national anthems. It has nothing to do with the fact I'm not an american. I'd say the exact same thing if we were talking about the national anthem of my country.

Thankfully, we don't play the national anthem before sporting events in my country. That said, some leagues have their own anthem and they play it before games. For instance, the Champions League in soccer has a beautiful anthem. The Euroleague in basketball has an anthem as well.

Here's the Champions League anthem played right before the 2018 Final. Given that soccer is massively popular throughout Europe, the Champions League Final is the european equivalent of the Super Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0cUafg_FZU

This is definitely a moment of unity for soccer fans throughout the world irrespective of their nationality.

Just because you’re not born in this country doesn’t mean you can’t be proud to be a part of it.

If someone was born in New York and moved to Seattle are you saying they’d be alienated by people that have civic pride in Seattle even though they’re apart of the same community NOW

Not all fans are americans. Not all players are americans either. In any case, national anthems separate people on the basis of nationality. That's my point.

Your point is wrong

[Donoghus]

I'm pretty indifferent on this one.

Personally, "God Bless America" is a much superior song anyways. 

[nickagneta]

It matters to me not one bit. If individual teams want to discontinue the practice of playing the national anthem before games, that's fine. If individual teams decide to keep things the way they are, that's fine to.

If individual players want to protest during the national anthem in any way, that's fine. If individual players want to stand at attention during the national anthem, that's fine too.

If say, the NBA and NFL decided to never play national anthems during their games but the NHL and MLB decided to keep playing national anthems, that's all fine.

None of it is important to me and none of it distracts from my enjoyment of watching a sporting event. And none of it is going to cause me to like or dislike any player, team or sport any more or less than I do already.

[Moranis]

I like the anthem.  It’s a moment of unity before the game.  I don’t think it has to be a political thing.

If you ask me, it's the exact opposite: a moment of disunity. All the national anthem does is separate people. The american anthem separates americans from non-americans, the canadian anthem separates canadians from non-canadians and so on. Btw, the same goes for flags, nationalistic events like ''hoops for the troops'' etc. I'm all for stop playing national anthems. It has nothing to do with the fact I'm not an american. I'd say the exact same thing if we were talking about the national anthem of my country.

Thankfully, we don't play the national anthem before sporting events in my country. That said, some leagues have their own anthem and they play it before games. For instance, the Champions League in soccer has a beautiful anthem. The Euroleague in basketball has an anthem as well.

Here's the Champions League anthem played right before the 2018 Final. Given that soccer is massively popular throughout Europe, the Champions League Final is the european equivalent of the Super Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0cUafg_FZU

This is definitely a moment of unity for soccer fans throughout the world irrespective of their nationality.

Just because you’re not born in this country doesn’t mean you can’t be proud to be a part of it.

If someone was born in New York and moved to Seattle are you saying they’d be alienated by people that have civic pride in Seattle even though they’re apart of the same community NOW

Not all fans are americans. Not all players are americans either. In any case, national anthems separate people on the basis of nationality. That's my point.

Your point is wrong

except he isn't.  National Anthems celebrate national unity.  that is their purpose.  So by celebrating one nation you are in fact separating people of different nations from that.  The NBA, in particular, has a wealth of nationalities from their employees.  Why doesn't Boston play the German National Anthem before games?  Does Theis not deserve to be honored the way we honor the American players?

[gift]

I never understood the anthem's significance to sporting events anyway. Seemed a little "churchy" to me and a great forum for people to judge whether you were standing, wearing a hat, covering your heart or making other potentially mindless gestures of conformity (not that everyone who does those things is making empty gestures). It also allows for other potential mindless gestures of protest (not that all those are empty protests either).

I think I might have even advocated for removing the anthem from events in the past. It sounds like something I'd suggest, I can't remember.

[BitterJim]

Unfortunately it is becoming the norm as our society continues to deteriorate.

My eyes literally hurt from how hard I just rolled them.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Some people think American exceptionalism is nationalism.... and vice versa.

I'm ok with the song itself. It's people that are annoying...

Kinda like religion..... Jesus seems really cool- it's his fan club that is the issue.

[Neurotic Guy]

I'm pretty indifferent on this one.

Personally, "God Bless America" is a much superior song anyways.

Same here - I really couldn't care less.  I like the song itself, prefer America the Beautiful, but really makes no difference to me whether it's played or not.  It's OK to have something that shifts the crowd into "let's get started" -- some ritual or routine, so I guess the anthem is fine for that.  Generally I'm not one for shows of national or local "pride" -- not a fan of the pledge of allegiance.  But I also don't think it's a big deal either. I go along with it and don't think much of it.   

I was raised by a WW2 vet who was a big fan of the country but wasn't much for displays of patriotism.   I guess I'm the similar in that regard.

[nickagneta]

What I find strange about this story is Dallas hasn't been playing the national anthem before games all year. Why is this a newsworthy story now? For 7 weeks the team played no national anthem, no biggie, no news about it. Now? Why?

[Moranis]

What I find strange about this story is Dallas hasn't been playing the national anthem before games all year. Why is this a newsworthy story now? For 7 weeks the team played no national anthem, no biggie, no news about it. Now? Why?

their last games was the first game with fans, so I'm guessing some fans noticed.

[todd_days_41]

World has some real problems these days. This ain't one of 'em.

[Roy H.]

The NBA says that all teams must play the anthem:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30874241/nba-issues-statement-saying-all-teams-play-national-anthem

[Moranis]

The NBA says that all teams must play the anthem:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30874241/nba-issues-statement-saying-all-teams-play-national-anthem

dumb rule