A clip of NBA player LeBron James appearing to mimic a golf swing during the national anthem drew a public response from Donald Trump, who described James as a disgrace and demanded an apology. Speaking publicly, the president said James had not shown adequate respect for the country or for those who died defending it.
The footage was captured during the Philadelphia 76ers' first regular-season matchup of the year — a Tuesday night encounter with the New York Knicks held at Madison Square Garden on 20 October. On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social, weighing in on the debate over the athlete's conduct during the performance.
On Truth Social, Trump put forward the claim that LeBron James had failed to honour the national anthem in an appropriate manner. The post came after online commentary took aim at footage in which James was seen moving during the national anthem while his teammates remained stationary beside him, and it included a call for James to offer an apology to military personnel and veterans who had served under the flag — an assertion the president had also voiced at the outset, characterising James as unfit for respect.
During Avery Wilson's rendition of the anthem, James was seen mimicking the motion of a golf swing and going through what appeared to be a shooting drill on the sideline. A golf club was absent from his grip. He was also observed loosening up on the sideline, running through his free-throw motion with deliberate repetition. A large portion of his fellow players held their positions without moving as the performance unfolded.
Before the game began, the Knicks had already collected their championship rings and looked on as the title banner was hoisted toward the rafters. With his first regular-season appearance in a Philadelphia jersey on the horizon, James was also beginning his 24th NBA season — a threshold no player in the league's history had previously reached.
Philadelphia held off New York by a final count of 106 to 100. Tyrese Maxey paced Philadelphia's scoring with 28 points, and fellow newcomer Jaylen Brown contributed 19. James posted 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, then told reporters he felt his performance had room to grow, noting that he was still finding his footing after a little more than two weeks alongside his new teammates.
As of the time the story was published, neither James nor the 76ers had issued any statement addressing Trump's comments.
The history of disputes between James and Trump spans a number of years, touching on episodes tied to White House visits, questions of race, and election cycles. The exchanges trace back to 2017, when James posted on social media calling Trump a "bum" — a post that followed the president's decision to rescind the Golden State Warriors' standing White House invitation after Stephen Curry publicly expressed little desire to attend. In that same post, James noted that a visit to the White House had once carried a sense of honour, a feeling he suggested no longer applied given who held the office.
The following year, a televised interview in which James contended that sport was being used to deepen divisions among Americans prompted Trump to publicly cast doubt on the player's intellectual capacity. Trump's post on that occasion closed with the words "I like Mike!" — a phrase many observers interpreted as a reference to Michael Jordan. A spokesperson subsequently conveyed Jordan's backing of James in a statement released afterward.
James also put his support behind Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump, stating in a written post that considerations around his children's futures and his family's path ahead led him to back her candidacy, closing the message with a call for readers to vote for Harris.
