Michael Jordan said sports protesters should not be "demonized or ostracized,” adding his voice on Sunday to others commenting since President Donald Trump rescinded an invitation to NBA champion Golden State Warriors to visit the White House.
The NBA Hall of Famer and majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets was questioned by the Charlotte Observer about Trump's controversy with the Warriors when he issued his statement.
"One of the fundamental rights this country is founded on was freedom of speech, and we have a long tradition of nonviolent, peaceful protest," Jordan said, per the Observer. "Those who exercise the right to peacefully express themselves should not be demonized or ostracized.”
"At a time of increasing divisiveness and hate in this country, we should be looking for ways to work together and support each other and not create more division. I support Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBA, its players, and all those who wish to exercise their right to free speech," Jordan added.
Trump has found himself in feuds with the NBA and NFL with recent comments. The controversy with the Warriors started when its all-star guard Stephen Curry said that he did not want to visit Trump at the White House, the Observer stated.
Curry told reporters, noted the Observer, he wanted to send a message that "we don't stand for basically what our president has – the things that he's said and the things that he hasn't said at the right times – that we won't stand for it. By acting, and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country, what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye toward."
That brought a rebuke from the president, who tweeted that the team was dis-invited to the White House recognition.
The Warriors responded with their own statement on their website.
"While we intended to meet as a team at the first opportunity we had this morning to collaboratively discuss a potential visit to the White House, we accept that President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited," the team statement said. "… We're disappointed that we did not have an opportunity during this process to share our views or have open dialogue on issues impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise."
On Sunday, numerous NFL players took a knee, locked arms, or did not even take the field during the national anthem Sunday in protest of Trump's comments about players being fired if they did not stand for the anthem before games, CNN reported.
Trump criticized the NFL and athletes who kneel during the national anthem before games during a rally in Alabama on Friday.
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. He's fired,'" Trump said, per CNN.
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