(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
By Sam Britt
(DALLAS) Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced on Tuesday that the national anthem will no longer be played before the team’s home games, according to the Associated Press.
Cuban did not elaborate on his decision. He said nobody had noticed through the Mavericks' first 13 preseason and regular-season home games at the American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks are the first pro sports team in the U.S. to get rid of the anthem from pregame festivities.
Cuban was a vocal supporter of NBA players' right to protest when they drew criticism over the summer for demonstrations during the anthem. He called those who complained “The National Anthem Police” on Twitter and asked them, if they really cared, to “complain to your boss and ask why they don’t play the National Anthem every day before you start work.”
"Whether it's holding their arm up in the air, whether it's taking a knee, whatever it is, I don't think this is an issue of respect or disrespect to the flag or to the anthem or to our country," Cuban told ESPN in June. "I think this is more a reflection of our players' commitment to this country and the fact that it's so important to them that they're willing to say what's in their heart and do what they think is right.”
NBA Spokesman Tim Frank said that under the unique circumstances of this season teams can run their pregame operations however they want.
North American sports, relative to the rest of the globe, are atypical for playing the National Anthem before sporting events.
The first instance of the anthem being played came during World War I in the middle of a World Series game between the Cubs and Red Sox in 1918. Then, during World War II, the song was played before the start of every baseball game, according to Vox.
Once the wars were over, the tradition just continued. As Vox puts it, “So today, we play the national anthem before sporting events ... because we play the national anthem before sporting events.”