President Trump bashed the “highly political” NBA and encouraged other sports to learn a lesson from the league’s foray into politics.
“People are tired of watching the highly political @NBA. Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won’t be coming back. I hope football and baseball are watching and learning because the same thing will be happening to them. Stand tall for our Country and our Flag!!!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
People are tired of watching the highly political @NBA. Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won’t be coming back. I hope football and baseball are watching and learning because the same thing will be happening to them. Stand tall for our Country and our Flag!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2020
Viewership of the playoff games has fallen this year. The game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers on Aug. 22 was the league’s most-watched of 2020, but ABC’s least-watched playoff opener in five years. An Aug. 23 game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks was down 47% in viewership compared to last year. The game between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia Sixers on the same day had 42% fewer viewers and was ABC’s least-watched playoff game ever, according to Sports Media Watch.
The president has been vocal in his condemnation of those kneeling during renditions of the national anthem. In 2018, he told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that NFL players who kneel shouldn’t be playing or “maybe [they] shouldn’t be in the country.”
More recently, Trump said this summer, “Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!”
Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and the shooting of Jacob Blake, players in the NFL, NHL, MLS, and MLB have knelt during the national anthem, following in the steps of former San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick. Professional baseball, basketball, and hockey teams postponed their matches in protest of Blake being shot.
The protests have resulted in at least one NHL team, the Dallas Stars, losing season-ticket holders.
