Donald Trump has launched a fresh broadside at LeBron James, accusing the NBA superstar of disrespecting the United States after video footage appeared to show the Los Angeles Lakers forward continuing his pre-game warm-up routine during a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner before New York’s season opener at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
The former president took to Truth Social on Thursday to share a clip from the broadcast, writing: “While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE.” Trump demanded an apology from James to “all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag.”
A familiar script plays out in Manhattan
The incident occurred as the Lakers prepared to face the Knicks in New York’s first home game of the campaign. While most players stood motionless with hands over hearts, cameras caught James moving through what appeared to be a golf swing motion before mimicking a jump shot — part of a long-standing personal ritual that has drawn scrutiny before.
Trump amplified the attack hours later at a midterm rally in Sioux City, Iowa. “And what about LeBron James? Did you see that deal?” he asked the crowd. “During the national anthem, he’s practicing his golf swing. I said, ‘what the hell is that?’ No, it’s a big scandal kind of a story. What’s it all about? I don’t understand it.”
The former president’s fixation on athlete conduct during the anthem dates back to his first term, when he repeatedly condemned NFL players who knelt during the song to protest racial injustice. James has been a frequent target since 2017, when the four-time MVP wore mismatched sneakers emblazoned with “EQUALITY” and declared: “We’re never going to let one person dictate how beautiful and how powerful we are.”
James dismisses controversy with trademark brevity
Asked about the furore after the Lakers’ victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, James offered a two-sentence masterclass in deflection.
“It must be a slow news day at the office,” he told reporters. “Slow news day at the office.”
The response echoed his 2018 reaction after Trump attacked him on X — then Twitter — following a CNN interview with Don Lemon about the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio. “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon,” Trump posted at the time. “He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!”
James had used that Lemon interview to argue that sport serves as a unifying force. “Sports has never been something that divides people,” he said then. “It’s always been something that brings someone together.” He accused the president of “using sports to kinda divide us.”
History of a rivalry
The animosity runs deep. In 2017, after the Golden State Warriors hesitated on a traditional White House visit following their championship, James called Trump “a bum” on social media and questioned his understanding of the office’s influence on children. “He doesn’t understand how many kids, no matter the race, look up to the president of the United States for guidance, for leadership, for words of encouragement,” James said. “That’s what makes me more sick than anything.”
Trump, for his part, has consistently aligned himself with Michael Jordan — the “Mike” referenced in his 2018 tweet — framing the GOAT debate as a proxy cultural battle. The former president attended Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals in Toronto, cheering for the Raptors against James’s former team, the Warriors.
Why it Matters
The latest flare-up illustrates how the anthem remains a potent flashpoint in American cultural politics, with athletes’ pre-game routines parsed for political meaning regardless of intent. For Trump, the episode serves a familiar purpose: energising a base that views any perceived slight to national symbols as evidence of elite contempt. For James, now in his 22nd season and approaching 40, the “slow news day” dismissal signals a veteran’s calculation that engaging further only amplifies a narrative he cannot control. The cycle — provocation, outrage, shrug, repeat — has become as ritualised as the warm-up routine that sparked it.
