Tuesday, September 26, 2017






Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

NBA point guard Abdul-Rauf was suspended in 1996 for refusing to stand for the national anthem, calling it a "symbol of oppression, of tyranny". Two days into the indefinite suspension (he had directly violated an NBA rule requiring players, coaches, and trainers to "stand in a dignified posture" during the anthem) he reached an agreement with the league to stand, avert his eyes, and bow his head in prayer during the anthem.

Like Colin Kaepernick (shown with Abdul-Rauf in the bottom photo), Abdul-Rauf was a good-not-great player who found his career affected by his anthem protest. Unlike Kaepernick, he had the option of playing oversees for a good chunk of change, though perhaps not as much as he would have received had he been a "good boy" and stuck in the NBA.

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