An NBA legend unexpectedly attended President Trump’s rally in Minnesota on Wednesday. Now he’s the target of copious amounts of leftist hate.
Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, the longtime Boston Celtic and Minnesota native, was spotted at the rally alongside his wife, Lynn. While the 60-year-old has not played pro basketball since 1993, he still works as an NBA analyst for TNT and, apparently, some don’t think he should be allowed to hold that post, simply because he went to see Trump speak.
Most notably, Victory Journal editor and GQ writer Nathaniel Friedman said:
Kevin McHale is extremely stupid for attending a public Trump event. That, as much as his politics, is why he should never work in the NBA again
— Nathaniel Friedman (@freedarko) June 21, 2018
Meanwhile, 610 Sports Radio (Kansas City) Host Henry Lake declared McHale “cancelled.”
I’d love to get definitive confirmation. But if Kevin McHale actually showed up to Trump’s rally in Duluth today with everything that is happening now and what Trump’s done and stands for, yeah he’s cancelled. pic.twitter.com/A99QSV56s4
— Henry Lake (@lakeshow73) June 21, 2018
Not to mention there was a barrage of anger from the Twitter mob.
Here’s what we know:
Donald Trump is a vile racist.
Kevin McHale attended a Trump ‘hate rally’ in Duluth.
Draw your own conclusions about the character of Kevin McHale.
— Bill Madden (@activist360) June 21, 2018
Being a Laker fan, Kevin McHale being a Trump supporter makes complete sense to me
— Ryan Ichinaga (@ryanichinaga) June 21, 2018
If you’re looking for a different Kevin McHale to support, one who most definitely would never attend a Trump rally or align himself with racists, etc., I’m still here. ?
— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) June 21, 2018
The reactions are certainly a bit over the top. Why should a man be banned from work simply for having different views than someone else, as Friedman suggested? Isn’t punishing someone for their opinions the very thoughtcrime that George Orwell’s 1984 warned about?
[WATCH: Trump boots protesters from rally: ‘Say hello to mommy’]
Even with the photographic evidence of McHale at the Trump rally, little is known about his political views, which he is entitled to have. He does not seem to discuss his ideas publicly despite his platform and despite so many active athletes and Hollywood celebrities espousing left-wing talking points publicly on a regular basis.
The notion that McHale may be a racist or a bad person just for attending the Trump rally is absurd. Whatever he thinks politically does not define him as an individual or a human being. Many people have great friendships and relationships with people with whom they disagree politically because it’s not a subject they have to discuss together.
Besides, being left- or right-wing clearly does not make someone a good or bad person. Mahatma Gandhi and Joseph Stalin are both generally categorized as left-wing while Adolf Hitler was far-right and Mother Teresa certainly had some socially conservative views as a devout Catholic, like being pro-life. Notice how two of those people are viewed as among the worst mass murderers in human history and the other two as the human embodiments of saints.
There are people on both sides of the aisle who are good people and bad people.
Klansman support both Democrats and Republicans in the voting booth, but that doesn’t mean everyone in either one of those parties embodies the KKK. Instead of judging people collectively based on their race, sex, religion, or political background, taking a look at everyone as an individual is the true way to create a tolerant society.
That said, hating McHale, who these angry people likely haven’t even met, just because there’s a chance he likes Trump, isn’t a healthy way to live. Perhaps it’s time these leftists showed some actual tolerance: by leaving McHale alone and accepting that not everyone has to agree with them politically.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelancer writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
