US President Donald Trump strikes out for the next blow against basketball. The 74-year-old describes various NBA players as “very bad and very stupid”.
US President Donald Trump has made up lost ground in the dispute with the NBA.
Most recently he had called the kneeling of the athletes at the US anthem “pathetic”, now the next blow will follow. After some players criticized his statements, which Trump himself does not want to hear, the politician has added to them in an interview with Fox Sports Radio.
According to the report, the president was not surprised by the criticism of various NBA professionals, because “some are very bad, very, very bad and frankly very stupid,” Trump said.
LeBron criticized Trump
The 74-year-old also reiterated his claim that NBA ratings had dropped as a result of the protests and that the league was “in big trouble”. According to surveys by Sports Media Watch, ratings at the end of last week were about four percent below the normal average for nationwide broadcasts of NBA games.
In contrast, the ratings for the games in the evening at prime time are eleven percent above the average before the Corona break.
After his first complaints about the basketball league, LeBron James, among others, took the floor. “I don’t think the basketball community is sad to lose him as a spectator,” said the Lakers superstar, while at the same time urging his fellow countrymen not to vote for Trump in November’s elections.
The president himself, however, also commented on the other US leagues. While the MLB also received criticism because of its protests, he praised the NHL for not kneeling there. “As I understand it, they do it very well,” said the 74-year-old.
Criticism also of MLB and NFL
In fact, even in the NHL, professionals have kneeled down for the anthem, although not the majority as in the NBA.
Even the NFL, whose season is due to start in less than a month, has already been given its fat off. “If they’re not the anthem, I hope they don’t start,” the president rumbled, only to add: “But other than that, I’d love them to start, and we’ll do everything we can to get them started.
The season is scheduled to start on September 10th, but there are health concerns due to the intense contact of the players on the field.