Irony and hypocrisy — it’s everywhere.
NBA player Matt Barnes, who’s currently a free agent, was asked his opinion of President Trump’s feud with the NFL regarding its players and owners kneeling during the national anthem.
The longtime NBA role player told TMZ Sports, “Once you attack sports, you attack all of us,” adding “athletes aren’t dumb*sses.”
The politically correct term for “dumb*sses” is “uneducated.”
That’s the word, LeBron James, the face of the NBA, used recently when he was asked about people who voted for Trump in November’s election.
James said, “I don’t think a lot of people was educated.”
Now, I’m not trying to nitpick. But, a general rule of thumb is to use correct grammar when calling someone “uneducated.” Anyways, back to Matt Barnes.
He was asked if he was worried that President Trump would turn his attention from the NFL to the NBA. Barnes responded, “I wouldn’t necessarily say worried. I think, it’s something, like I said, once you attack sports, you attack all of us. I don’t necessarily think it’s about the knee, per se, you know? I think it’s the fact that these black athletes have the nerve, to, you know, you have it good enough, like what do you mean, you’re making millions of dollars, shut up and play sports. And, today, we’re so much more than that. We’re educated, we have businesses, you know, multiple businesses. And together, I think he (President Trump) may have started something that together, we can possibly be bigger than him.”
Barnes says he would definitely consider taking a knee during the anthem when the NBA season begins, but only if all of his teammates were on board. The problem is, not only does Barnes not have any teammates (he’s currently unsigned), the NBA has a league rule against kneeling during the national anthem.
It’s funny that Barnes is now on the side of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a man he said he would “f**k up” in a fight in a rift that was allegedly over a woman. The irony doesn’t stop there.
Players kneeling for the national anthem are demonstrating to raise awareness for social injustice faced by minorities, right? Well, in 2012, Barnes called an L.A. police officer a derogatory term for a gay man. Gay men are also minorities considered by many to be fighting social injustice of their own. But, I guess those people don’t matter as much to the 14-year NBA player. But, wait, there’s more.
Just three months ago, Barnes pled guilty to disorderly conduct for getting into a fight and choking a woman at an L.A. nightclub. Many people argue that women are also fighting social injustice in America. So, where’s the compassion there, Mr. Barnes?
The hypocrisy here is almost too rich to handle.