Donald Trump is not happy with the way the NBA is speaking up for what they believe in and has hit them where it hurts with a statement about the ratings.
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Donald Trump, the 45th POTUS, is someone who has never liked athletes voicing their opinion. Back in 2018, LeBron was interviewed by Don Lemon when he inaugurated his I-Promise school in Akron, Ohio. There James took it to say, “you could be the best in your field, they would still remind you of your color.” To this Trump tweeted and replied with
Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018
Fast forward to the NBA restart. The players were all kneeling during the National Anthem to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and Trump had something to say about that too.
Trump does not want politics and sports intermingling
Trump has always maintained that he doesn’t like sport and politics intermingling and thus hates it when NBA athletes use their platform to send out social justice messages.
Kneeling during the national them is seen as an act of disrespect by Trump. His statements have thus always been about how people should stop watching the NBA, as it is not about ‘sport’ anymore.
President Trump calls NBA players “disgraceful” for kneeling during anthem, implies that he’s done more for the black community than Abraham Lincoln pic.twitter.com/C5YJW3pAps
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) August 5, 2020
Also Read: “I know their ratings are down, mocks Trump”
Donald Trumps mocks NBA ratings
Donald Trump took it to twitter once again to speak against the NBA standing for what they believe in.
He particularly took a swipe at NBAs ratings being down and how the people of America don’t really want to see politics and sports going hand-in-hand.
Now, while people debate about Trump’s view on NBA players promoting social justice messages, his statement about ‘NBA ratings’ being down is surely true.
People are tired of watching the highly political @NBA. Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won’t be coming back. I hope football and baseball are watching and learning because the same thing will be happening to them. Stand tall for our Country and our Flag!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2020
Despite Adam Silver and co. pulling off an incredible ‘Bubble’ finish to the 2019/20 NBA season, the ratings have hit an all time low.
With the playoffs being on, NBA would have hoped for the ratings to go up, but this year’s playoff ratings are 20% down from last season.
The worrying factor is that the NBA ratings have seen a 45% decline from 2011 and are still on the way down. Multiple factors have contributed to this and it does seem like the ‘political statements’ made by the players do have a role to play.
A lot of Americans don’t want ‘millionaire athletes’ telling them about their struggles. They do not want ‘Black Lives Matter’ messages to be propagated while they watch their favourite franchise battling it out during the playoffs.
And with the ratings constantly going down, Trump does touch a right/wrong nerve.
Josh Hart of the Pelicans did not mince his words.
What a dumbass. https://t.co/XoSQrMrAkz
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) September 1, 2020
Micheal Rapaport hilariously pointing out facts:
Hahahahaha imagine tweeting this the day of a Game 7 on ABC. @DonaldJTrumpJr come get your decrepit dumpy daddy https://t.co/kDVa9RkiZY
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) September 1, 2020
Now, while it is brilliant that the NBA is doing all it can to help its players use their platform and spread awareness about police brutality and injustice; Adam Silver and co. will at some point need to address its affect on the ratings.
A couple of series going to Game 7 in the 1st round could help, but a long term plan will need to be chalked out in order to stop this slump.
