Nba

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington recently made headlines for criticizing Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Cuban recently started a media storm when he announced that the Dallas Mavericks weren't going to be playing the national anthem before their home games. Covington (16-2) is a notorious Trump supporter and considers himself a patriot. He felt that the Mavericks were disrespecting the flag and core American values. https://twitter.com/ColbyCovMMA/status/1359548961292496901 The Mavericks had actually not been playing the anthem since the beginning of the season 2 months ago. But when a reporter asked Cuban about the matter, the owner confirmed that they planned to not play the anthem this season due to the lack of fans in the arena. The NBA was immediately made aware of this decision and the commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement intimating that every team in the league will have to play the national anthem for the remainder of the season. Cuban and the mavericks have since issued a statement of their own agreeing with the NBA's decision. https://twitter.com/MavsPR/status/1359595617505472518 "We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been." "Going forward, our hope is that people will take the same passion they have for this issue and apply the same amount of energy to listen to those who feel differently from them. Only then we can move forward and have courageous conversatons that moves this country forward and find what unites us." This isn't Covington's first run-in with NBA related issues. He challenged Lebron James to a boxing match after the NBA superstar's social justice campaign. Colby Covington hasn't reacted to that statement as of now. While he may be making headlines in the media, he hasn't been in many fight rumors lately. His TKO victory over Tyron Woodley last year put him in contention for a title, and he'll certainly have his eyes on the UFC 258 main event between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns.