The Dallas Mavericks garnered attention on Tuesday night for something they’d been doing all season. The team made the decision to not play the national anthem prior to its home games this year, with Tim Cato of The Athletic reporting that it wasn’t even announced to team employees that the decision had been made.
In a statement to Cato, a league representative said “under the unique circumstances of this season, teams are permitted to run their pregame operations as they see fit.” On Wednesday, the league released a statement indicating that once the circumstances under which this season is being played change — i.e. arenas having limited or no fan presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic — playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games will be required.
“With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy,” NBA chief communications officer Mike Bass said.
It is hardly the first time that the role the national anthem plays in NBA’s pregame routine has received attention. Over the years, there have been numerous conversations about what would happen should players opt to do something like take a knee while the anthem played, to which the league would always point to its policy that standing for the anthem is compulsory. That did change during the NBA’s Orlando Bubble, where players and coaches knelt during “The Star-Spangled Banner” as they saw fit.