UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington has ripped Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who has announced the American national anthem will no longer be player prior to his teams NBA games.
‘Chaos’ wasn’t happy to read about this and responded fursiouly to the article posted out by The New York Post.
“Can’t play The National Anthem and can’t say FREE Hong Kong, but you could customize the back of your official @DallasMavs jersey ALL summer long to say: “KillCops.” @MarkCuban and the @NBA are absolute trash.”
A few hours later, the Dallas Mavericks PR team released a statement confirming the national anthem would be played at their game against the Atlanta Hawks which took place last night.
“We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been.
“Going forward, our hope is that people will take the same passion they have for this issue and apply the same amount of energy to listen to those who feel differently from them. Only then we can move forward and have courageous conversations that move this country forward and find what unites us.”
It remains unclear if this U-turn is permanent or just a one-off. This is not the first time Covington has publicly blasted people in the NBA. ‘Chaos’ used the post-fight speech after his last UFC win to call out “spineless cowards like LeBron James.” He later slammed the NBA for postponing games amid racial tensions in the U.S.
Covington got back in the win column last time out by dominating and stopping former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. He is now expected to fight his former teammate and friend, turned rival Jorge Masvidal – although nothing is official yet.
Do you agree with Colby Covington? Should the national anthem be played before NBA games?