Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban will kneel with his players during the national anthem if they choose to do so.
Three years ago, Cuban said that he would stand with his hand over his heart during the anthem.
The NBA has stringent rules in place to discourage teams from kneeling.
Whether or not that continues in the wake of recent protests remains to be seen.
Cuban joined ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Thursday to discuss his thoughts on the current state of social unrest, amongst other topics.
“If they were taking a knee and they were being respectful, I’d be proud of them. Hopefully I’d join them… Whether it’s holding their arm up in the air, whether it’s taking a knee, whatever it is, I don’t think this is an issue of respect or disrespect to the flag or to the anthem or to our country” Cuban said.
Ultimately, should players decide to kneel during the anthem, the league office will have to decide whether or not to punish them.
“I’ll defer to [commissioner] Adam [Silver] on any final judgments and [players’ union executive director] Michele Roberts. But the reality is, my hope is we’ll let the players do exactly what they think is the right thing to do,” Cuban continued on to say.
If one thing’s certain, it’s that the league should continue to encourage its players to speak up on current issues.