Mark Cuban, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump,
says he is “absolutely” proud of the NBA for speaking against the recent travel
ban against seven Muslim-majority countries.
“That’s who we are,” Cuban said. “We’ve always tried to help
those who are less fortunate. We’re community driven.”
Significant NBA figures, including San Antonio Spurs coach
Gregg Popovich, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Toronto Raptors
point guard Kyle Lowry have been very vocal in expressing their displeasure
with the policy ordered by President Trump.
Kyle Lowry on the muslim ban: "I think it's bullshit."
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) January 30, 2017
Media: "Do you want to try that again, without swearing?"
Kyle Lowry: "no." pic.twitter.com/a4WE712yiT
“As American citizens we can never forget it’s this country
first, basketball second,” Cuban said.
Cuban said it’s easier for NBA figures to be more vocal than
the other sports leagues because the 12-man rosters are just more visible than,
for example, the 53-man rosters in the NFL.
Cuban, who has had a German superstar in Dirk Nowitzki for
nearly two decades, says the diversity is important in the NBA. He also
fundamentally disagrees with the policy.
“The hypocrisy of it all is that it’s just seven countries,”
Cuban said. “Now if it would’ve been all terrorist hosting countries, but seven
countries? That’s like locking your door with the best security ever invented
and leaving all your windows open. It just makes no sense, so I’m proud of the
NBA for standing up.”
Cuban said that everybody is terrified of terrorism but this
isn’t the correct way to go about confronting that fear.
“It’s like the sports analogy, character isn’t revealed when
things are going well,” Cuban said. “Character is revealed when you’re under
stress and you’re being challenged. We’ll see what the character of this
country is.”
