Dallas Mavericks' Josh Howard disrespects national anthem

Dallas Morning News ^ | 9/17/08 | Eddie Sefko

[DallasBiff]

Josh Howard's decision-making has again come into question after he was filmed disrespecting the national anthem.

And the Mavericks are taking steps to help Howard and their other players avoid controversy in the future.

In a video posted on YouTube, the swingman is shown at Allen Iverson's charity flag football game in July. When the national anthem is being sung, various participants are shown mugging for the camera. When the camera gets to Howard, he says: " 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this [expletive]. I'm black."

Howard goes on to make a difficult-to-discern comment that includes a reference to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama

[scooby321]

The Mavericks are passed peaked.

[relictele]

OK Josh - I know they didn’t cover the Civil War at your school and instead probably offered Foundations of Hip Hip 101 but if not for that anthem you’d be singing Dixieland and possibly still be the property of others.

[Dr. Ursus]

Mr.Howard- my I remind you that Mr.Obama is a mulatto with
effete white boy lips!

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

The poster wasn’t being sarcastic. Kobe and others made highly positive comments about being Americans.

[badpacifist]

He’s not black he is that other term.

[mothball]

I feel dumber after watching that.

[txzman]

Where is a Marcus Garvey plan when you need it. I’ll chip in for a plane ticket anywhere his a** wants to go.

And owners wonder why people don’t like their sports teams.

[Girlene]

The team owner’s answer to this and other incidents is “going through some advanced communication-skill sessions together this training camp.” Wow. Yeah, that will fix it. How about sending him to boot camp for a week with his own personal drill instructor. Maybe he’d learn a little respect for a country where others will fight and die for his freedom to be an unpatriotic, racist moron.

[TNCMAXQ]

Thanks for clarifying my comment. Bryant’s remarks about patriotism not being old fashioned were very well received I thought. I am not into sports much so I don’t remember the name of the other basketball player who was interviewed by NBC at another point during the olympics and he too said he was proud to be representing the USA. Made me good to hear that. These guys did well and made a ton of $$ thanks to their talents and the free market system. How exactly is this Howard moron any different? He should stop his complaining.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Howard goes on to make a difficult-to-discern comment that includes a reference to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama."

Is anyone here shocked that someone would make an anti American comment and then go on to show his support for Barrack Obama? It's like peanut butter and jelly. The two go together.

[WaterBoard]

I know what you mean. Could these professional athletes get through the National Anthem for 10 seconds without using the “N” word less than 5 times, curse, talk about the ‘women’, or their ‘bling’.

These guys are college graduates and they do not speak anything resembling English. Watch the tape, this is not hyperbole.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Maybe it is time to stop rooting for the NBA. Of course, there are a few good guys, like Ginobli and other imports."

Not true. You need to see Kobe Bryant's interview where he talks about how honored he feels to represent his country at the Olympics. A number of the other NBA players at the Olympics expressed similar sentiments.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"These guys are college graduates and they do not speak anything resembling English."

Not exactly true. Many of them only have a year or two at college and many went straight from high school to the NBA. Now there is a rule in place where basically you have to spend one year at college before jumping into the NBA.

[NYC Republican]

So do I

[mlocher]

Not true. You need to see Kobe Bryant's interview where he talks about how honored he feels to represent his country at the Olympics. A number of the other NBA players at the Olympics expressed similar sentiments.

I admit that I was speaking from ignorance. Thank you for your correction. It is good to know that our athletes in the Olympics do recognize the special honor that they have earned. I guess I owe Kobe an apology.

[aruanan]

Mr.Howard- my I remind you that Mr.Obama is a mulatto with effete white boy lips!

Actually, Barry O's blue lips are a specific black African phenotype. And if Mr. Howard is an American black, then he's only fractionally black. Take the guy over to Liberia or Congo or Rwanda and drop him off and see how long he'll last. I'd give him about two weeks at the most before he's crying to come home.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

" I guess I owe Kobe an apology."

When Kobe was first accused by that woman of raping her, I immediately assumed rich athelete trying to get away with whatever he wanted to do. I automatically assumed he was guilty. I guess you could say it was O.J. Simpson thinking. After all the facts came out, she was a whacko who (IMO) had sex with him to trap him. While he may have been unfaithful to his wife, I have a pretty high regard for Kobe now. I think he's a stand up guy and I hope that he and his wife have been able to work through that. People make mistakes.

[mlocher]

I have a pretty high regard for Kobe now.

I did not follow the rape case very closely, but I figured he would be out of the NBA if he were guilty. He is a great player, and I was glad to hear your positive comments about him being at the Olympics.

[DallasBiff]

I put the keyword in, to give this outrage as much exposure as possible and to show the difference between your avg. Obama/Biden supporter and the avg. McCain/Palin supporter.

[normy]

I noticed most of the crowd was respectful. If the MAvs don't trade Howard he will be booed off the court by Dallas fans guaranteed.