When San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick first protested by kneeling as the national anthem was being played months ago, the reactions were mostly confused at first.
Kneeling during the national anthem has since become a common occurrence in sports games across the country, no matter the type of sport, or even the level it’s being played at.
Several NBA teams have protested as well, though most have done it in a less-controversial manner such as locking arms together in a big line. For those who are still pondering whether or not to kneel, just be sure Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert doesn’t hear about it.
Following from Louis Aguilar from The Detroit News:
The two owners were speaking on a panel at the University of Michigan sports business conference Friday afternoon when they engaged in a civil but robust exchange about the growing trend of professional athletes taking knee, or expressing some form of protest, during the singing of the national anthem. Gilbert said it was “bad choice.”
“There’s a million ways you can express yourself and you should do that, for sure. Taking a knee in the United States of America while millions of people are watching, I think it’s a poor example,” Gilbert said.
What would Gilbert do if a Cavalier decided to take such action?
“I hope we don’t ever have to come with that,” Gilbert said.
So far, no player on the Cavaliers has done what Gilbert hopes not to see. For Gilbert, this isn’t a race issue, but more so a personal issue. Protesting during the anthem harms each person individually, Gilbert believes, and isn’t good for the sport of basketball.
