The NBA preseason starts October 1st, and many are wondering if the national anthem protest by players will spill over into the basketball season. The NBA has long had a rule that players must stand for the national anthem. Before Colin Kaepernick there was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. During the 1995-1996 NBA season, the $13 million contract-extension player told his coaches the he would no longer stand for the national anthem. Without much notice at first, Abdul-Rauf suffered no consequences for his actions based on his religious beliefs. On March 10, 1996 that all changed. Having previously been called anti-patriotic because of his stance which took place after the Oklahoma bombings, during the March 10th game Abdul-Rauf decided to sit in the middle of the anthem and the rest is history. The NBA suspended him for one game and decided that he had to stand but could pray silently in his hand while standing. Abdul-Rafur’s career suffered a great blow and he never rebounded from it.

With more and more black people becoming target practice for police departments, professional sports leagues are having to find a way to respond to the way players protest. The NFL has had a tough time figuring out what to do and who to collect a check from when it comes to enforcing the stand. The NBA has decided to take a proactive approach to whatever stance and protest strategies their players may have. CBS Sports reports: “To that end, the NBA is looking to not merely deal with the aftermath of whatever protests or statements the players might make regarding these issues, but is working to actually foster a conversation in advance so that the league can support the players, but also so that it can try and prevent incidents that could harm their image or sponsor relationships.”

It seems as though the NBA is willing to have a conversation about it but isn’t willing to risk their image or sponsorships, so they want to get ahead of it. Coaches have stated they plan on talking to their players in the locker room about matters of this nature, and the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent out a letter to players.

NBA & NBPA have sent the players a joint letter announcing they are working together on… https://t.co/iWsctLWRLZ pic.twitter.com/YVjJ8sy9Kg

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) September 22, 2016

As the conversation gets started in the NBA about how to handle players potentially breaking a rule that very much still exist, it will be interesting to see who is willing to take a knee or keep standing.

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