San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid (left) kneels during the National Anthem next to quarterback Colin Kaepernick (right). (AP Photo/ Mike McCarn)
The President picked the wrong subculture to divide us.
Instead of furthering his apparent mission to keep the country divided, the President demonstrated his lack of understanding about sports. Maybe he didn’t play team sports as a kid, or was a bad teammate, but the competition between athletes also bonds them. That’s how a singular protest by Colin Kaepernick has morphed into a national demonstration.
Whether it’s the Cowboys rallying around a punt return by rookie Ryan Switzer, Kyle Seager waving off the shortstop to say “I’ve got it,” or the dozens of basketball players at all levels who still point to the passer, sports teams are individuals working together for a common goal. Not even the President can break that; only this President thinks he can.
The NBA is the perfect league to stand up to this President. Lebron James has millions more followers on social media. He is idolized by most of those followers, simply followed by the rest of them. His sport represents a wide demographic, and strong ties through passion and pride for both the sport and hometown teams.
NBA players may compete like crazy on the court, especially in the playoffs, but they constitute a brotherhood. When the President tries to divide pro sports franchises along the issues of the American Flag and National Anthem, he threatens to erode the base that has continued to support him through misstatements, outrageous Tweets and outright lies.
Sports fans don’t want to lose their heroes on the fields and courts, and those heroes came together over the weekend to demonstrate acts of solidarity and unity in different ways. Whether standing arms locked, kneeling before the Anthem or remaining in the locker room for it, they showed they will not be divided – no matter the issue or what a President says.
Imagine if James, Curry and other stars of the NBA put it to the ultimate test of their power and popularity and refused to play until this President resigned from office? Whether or not their supporters condoned it, eventually they would want sports teams back the way they have had them for years, decades.
This President, who has owned a pro football team, shows he doesn’t get that. The athletes proved it.
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