The Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association are no longer playing the national anthem before their games.
āIt was my decision, and I made it in November,ā team owner Mark Cuban said, The New York Times reported. Cuban offered no further comment.
The anthem has not been played at any of the teamās 13 pre-season and regular season home games, according to Sports Illustrated.
The policy was not announced in advance.
The NBA, which has a policy on the books of requiring players to stand for the anthem, will allow teams āto run their pregame operations as they see fitā because of āthe unique circumstances this season,ā a league spokesman told The Times.
According to The Athletic, The Mavericks are believed to be the first American pro team to enact a policy of not playing the anthem prior to games with fans in attendance. In recent years, the anthem has been used as a backdrop for social justice protests by NBA and NFL players.
However, as The Times reported, Dallas played āGod Bless Americaā when the team had been owned by Donald Carter and adopted the national anthem when Ross Perot owned the tram, prior to Cuban purchasing it.
The NHLās Philadelphia Flyers would often play a version of āGod Bless Americaā recorded by Kate Smith, which was regarded as a good luck charm by the team after the tradition began in 1969. The team stopped playing the song in 2019 amid concerns that some songs Smith sang were āracist,ā according to WCAU-TV.
News of Cubanās decision caused ripples on Twitter.
Cuban said last year that he supported anthem protesters.
āIf they were taking a knee and they were being respectful, Iād be proud of them. Hopefully Iād join them,ā he told ESPN.
He followed that up with a defiant tweet, which is no longer available.
āThe National Anthem Police in this country are out of control. If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they donāt play the National Anthem every day before you start work,ā he tweeted then.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.