During Saturday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz, the Oklahoma City Thunder tipped off its first game since the season was suspended by kneeling during the national anthem.

On Friday, Oklahoma State Rep. Sean Roberts wrote a statement discouraging Thunder players from kneeling during the anthem and threatening to use his power to look into the team's tax benefits if they went against his wishes. Roberts said the players who knelt were “anti-patriotic” and the team was contributing to the “dissolution of the American nuclear family” by supporting causes like the Black Lives Matter movement, KFOR reports.

“By kneeling during the playing of the national anthem, the NBA and its players are showing disrespect to the American flag and all it stands for. This anti-patriotic act makes clear the NBA’s support of the Black Lives Matter group and its goal of defunding our nation’s police, its ties to Marxism and its efforts to destroy nuclear families,” he wrote.

The Oklahoma politician proposed that, should the Thunder partake in kneeling demonstrations during the season, the state should “reexamine” tax benefits allocated to the organization.

“Perhaps these funds would be better served in support of our police departments rather than giving tax breaks to an organization that supports defunding police and the dissolution of the American nuclear family,” Roberts' statement read.

On Saturday, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt took to Twitter to offer support to the Thunder and encouraged the team to “challenge us to continue confronting racial inequality."

Our Thunder will also challenge us to continue confronting racial inequality. We should welcome that perspective, we should listen, and we should act to keep building a better city for all. (4/5)

— Mayor David Holt (@davidfholt) August 1, 2020

Since the coronavirus outbreak, sporting leagues around the world have postponed their competitions. The NBA season was stalled on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 prior to a game that night. Due to Gobert contracting the virus, the league postponed the game and suspended the season later that night.

Two months later, on May 25, George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck and suffocated him for 7 minutes and 46 seconds.

As the season resumes, NBA players have been vocal about using their platforms to bring attention to social justice issues like police brutality. One of the changes viewers may notice while watching NBA games this fall, outside of the lack of a live crowd, is jersey designs.

Of the 350 players participating in the restart, 300 athletes have opted to wear social justice-inspired messages as a replacement for their last names on the back of game jerseys, The Undefeated reports.

The messages, approved by both the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, include: Black Lives Matter, Say Their Names, Vote, I Can’t Breathe, Say Her Name, Ally, Anti-Racist, I Am A Man and Speak Up.

Tyson Chandler of the Houston Rockets said he decided to keep his name on the back of his jersey because the league didn’t approve of him wearing Trayvon Martin's name.

“What I was thinking about doing was wearing Trayvon Martin’s name because I thought that would be a powerful statement. I felt like it would remind people that we don’t know what this young man’s future could have been," Chandler said. "But that wasn’t one of the ones [we could use] so I’ll keep my name on the back.”

NBA star LeBron James said he decided not to wear any of the preapproved messages because they didn't align with his mission, as Blavity previously reported.

“Everything that I do has a purpose, has a meaning, so I don’t need to have something on the back of my jersey for people to understand my mission or know what I’m about and what I’m here to do.”

James, a four-time MVP, said he wasn’t a part of the conversation about the messages but said it's "great that a lot of people’s ears are opening."

Rep.-Sean-Robert

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week