The Bulls Will Lock Arms During The National Anthem Tuesday Night

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Oct 3, 2017 7:47PM

Kris Dunn drives to the basket during the 2017 Summer League in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Bulls announced that tonight they would be linking arms in unity during the national anthem as they face off against the Pelicans in a preseason game in New Orleans, according to the Sun-Times.

The team held a meeting yesterday week to discuss what their players would be doing during the game tonight, according to the Tribune. Point guard Kris Dunn called the situation "serious" but said he wanted to continue standing for a friend stationed in Afghanistan.

How athletes comport themselves during the "Star Spangled Banner" has once again become a hot topic in the culture wars. Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest police brutality against people of color in the U.S. Since Kaepernick has been essentially blackballed from the league, some NFL players carried on the tradition of kneeling. This incurred the wrath of Donald Trump, who said NFL owners should fire anyone who kneels and referred to anyone who partook as a "son of a bitch."

Some teams, who couldn't agree on a unified course of action, have opted to stay in the locker room during the national anthem. Others linked arms. Trump, by the way, considers linking arms inoffensive.

And that's what the Bulls have decided works best for them. Last week NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he expects players to stand: "It's been a rule as long as I've been involved with the league, and my expectation is that our players will continue to stand for the anthem."

"Sports historically, and in the NBA in particular, has been a unifying force,” Silver added. "While there's always been disagreements in society, sports arenas have been places where people from all walks of life have come together and for a common experience."

This ignores so much recent NBA history, including the Clippers' protest against their racist owner, players wearing "I Can't Breathe" shirts during warm-ups in 2014 to memorialize Eric Garner's death at the hands of police and so much of what LeBron James has organized off-court since Trayvon Martin was shot. Silver's statement ignores so history outside of the NBA, like Muhammad Ali's resistance to the draft during Vietnam or the raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the national anthem at the 1968 Olympics.

Trump, of course, has only poured fuel on the fire of the culture wars. He took a shot at the Warriors' Stephen Curry for not enthusiastically jumping at the chance to visit the White House.

Though the league gets less attention, the WNBA has been a leader in protesting racial injustice. Recently the owner of Chicago Sky Michael Alter spoke out in favor of taking a knee during the national anthem.

“These players are citizens like the rest of us. Being an athlete isn’t forgoing their rights to be active and to express their opinions," Alter told the Sun-Times. "When I grew up, I looked up at athletes who felt it was a responsibility to speak up on issues they thought were important. I still feel that way."