Mark Cuban hopes to kneel with players during national anthem at NBA games

Mavs owner voices his support for the issue of social justice.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that if his players take a knee during the national anthem, he hopes to join them.

In an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Thursday, Cuban was asked how he would react if he saw Mavericks players not standing for the anthem. “If they were taking a knee and they were being respectful, I’d be proud of them. Hopefully I’d join them,” Cuban said.

NBA rules state that players and coaches must stand for the national anthem, but Cuban said he hopes the league can adapt and “allow players to do what’s in their heart.”

In 2017, Cuban voiced a different opinion after President Donald Trump criticized NFL players who were kneeling during the anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality. “I think we’ve learned a lot since 2017,” he said. “I think we’ve evolved as a country. And this is really a unique point in time where we can grow as a society, we can grow as a country and become far more inclusive and become far more aware of the challenges that minority communities go through.