The Aporia · Trump blasts basketball star LeBron James for not standing still during US anthem

Trump blasts basketball star LeBron James for not standing still during US anthem

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗

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Associated Press. (2026, October 22). Trump blasts basketball star LeBron James for not standing still during US anthem. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3371833/trump-blasts-basketball-star-lebron-james-not-standing-still-during-us-anthem

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 23, 2026, Donald Trump accused NBA star LeBron James of disrespecting the United States after videos showed James practicing a golf swing and shooting basketballs during the playing of the national anthem before Philadelphia’s season opener against the New York Knicks. In a social media post on Truth Social, Trump called James "a TOTAL DISGRACE" and demanded that he apologize to those who died for the American flag.

James, in his first season with Philadelphia 76ers at age 41, initially did not comment publicly but later shrugged off Trump's criticism during a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, saying it was a "slow news day." Coach Nick Nurse also downplayed the incident, stating that outside noise does not affect his team.

ESPN’s headline on the matter described James as failing to “stand still” rather than engaging in an active warm-up routine, which some viewed as minimizing the controversy. This incident is part of a long-standing feud between Trump and James, who have frequently criticized each other over political issues.

Written for “Trump Criticizes LeBron Over Anthem” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 5 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans strongly right

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

64/100

South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3467 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Associated Press

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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 585 articles by Associated Press →

Topics

American NBA New York Philadelphia the United States

Subjects

LeBron James PERSON · 3× James PERSON · 2× NBA ORG · 2× Philadelphia ORG · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× American NORP · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× New York GPE · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

Trump blasts basketball star LeBron James for not standing still during US anthem The US president and the NBA player have been critical of one another for years, occasionally trading public swipes US President Donald Trump on Thursday accused LeBron James of disrespecting the United States after the NBA star appeared to continue his warm-ups while the national anthem was performed before Philadelphia’s season opener on Tuesday.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22

2026-10-22 · South China Morning Post

Trump blasts basketball star LeBron James for not standing still during US anthem · assertive framing

Claims (5 extracted, 0 hedged)

anthem → blast → Tuesday

“I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE,” Trump said of James in a social media post sharing the video. asserted

Trump → say → video

“LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!” asserted

Country → apologize → that

James appeared to practice a golf swing and jump shot as The Star-Spangled Banner was performed at Tuesday’s game in New York. asserted

Banner → appear → York

James, starting his first season with Philadelphia, was lined up alongside teammates who mostly stood still during the anthem. asserted

who → start → anthem