Whatever the reason, it's seen as shocking when an athlete or coach is not present for the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at an American sporting event. So when Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dion Waiters wasn't on the court for the song at Wednesday's game vs. the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, people took notice. Waiters has an explanation for his absence, and it involves his religion. From Chris Haynes for the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
Dion Waiters was nowhere to be found when the national anthem was being sung. He was absent when the starting lineups were introduced.
It was the first game of the season that he was coming off the bench. He finally arrived from the locker room to join the Cavaliers' bench a couple seconds before tip off. Folks started to speculate if he was injured, disgruntled or if this was his way of rebelling? [...]
Waiters informed Northeast Ohio Media Group that he is a Muslim and that's the reason he excused himself prior to the national anthem.
"It's because of my religion," Waiters told NEOMG. "That's why I stayed in the locker room."
Waiters says he is rededicating himself more to his Muslim faith. He appears to be in a happier state.
The guard, however, did stand with his team during tonight's national anthem. Maybe he's selective with it.
Waiters's decision recalls the actions of Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who refused to stand for the national anthem in March 1996 out of the belief that the American flag was a symbol of oppression and tyranny. Abdul-Rauf was suspended one game before reaching a compromise with the NBA in which he would stand with his team but close his eyes and look downward, during which he often uttered a prayer.
However, Waiters does not appear to have made any argument for his actions beyond being Muslim. That fact itself would not appear to require missing the national anthem — many Muslim NBA players, from Mirza Teletovic to Nazr Mohammed, have observed the anthem with no issues. It also seems odd that he would miss the starting lineup intros, an irreligious activity, for the same reason.
As noted by Haynes, Waiters did show up for the national anthem for Friday's game at the Denver Nuggets. He also didn't start, coming off the bench to score 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting in 24 minutes (including crunch time) in a 110-101 win. It remains to be seen if his religious conscience will reappear before Monday night's home game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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