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‘Slow news day at the office’: LeBron James shrugs off Trump’s national anthem attack

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Cite

sport, G. (2026, October 23). ‘Slow news day at the office’: LeBron James shrugs off Trump’s national anthem attack. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/oct/23/lebron-james-donald-trump-national-anthem-76ers

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

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-23 · by Guardian sport

Quick Summary

Donald Trump criticized LeBron James on social media and at a campaign rally in Iowa for what he perceived as disrespectful behavior during the national anthem before an NBA game between the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks. The criticism stemmed from a video showing James making warm-up movements while lined up with his teammates. In response, James dismissed Trump’s comments, saying it must be a "slow news day." Sixers coach Nick Nurse echoed this sentiment, advising players to focus on their game rather than external distractions.
Written by AI on 2026-10-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump Criticizes LeBron Over Anthem
Politics · 6 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Trump blasts 76ers' star LeBron James as 'disgrace' for not standing still during national anthem Same event
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 29 claims Outlet record 64/100
Trump blasts basketball star LeBron James for not standing still during US anthem Same event
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 62/100
What is the history behind Trump’s LeBron blast over US national anthem? Same event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 60/100
LeBron James fires back at Donald Trump over condemnation of national anthem antics Same event
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
LeBron shrugs off Trump blast in home debut win for Philadelphia 76ers Different event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 1 of 33 claims Outlet record 60/100
“While both articles discuss Trump's criticism of LeBron James, Article B focuses on LeBron's performance in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers after the criticism, whereas Article A is primarily about Trump's attack during the Philadelphia 76ers' season opener.”
ESPN posts propagandistic headline about Trump, LeBron and national anthem Different event
Fox News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss Trump criticizing LeBron James over his conduct during the national anthem, they differ in their focus and reporting style.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2029 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Guardian sport
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 30 articles by Guardian sport →

Topics

NBA Philadelphia Philadelphia 76ers Sixers the New York Knicks

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 8× James PERSON · 5× LeBron James PERSON · 3× NBA ORG · 3× Sixers ORG · 3× Philadelphia GPE · 2× American NORP · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Philadelphia 76ers ORG · 1× the New York Knicks ORG · 1×

Narrative

Trump posted a video of the basketball legend making apparent warm-up movements while lined up with his Philadelphia 76ers teammates before their season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
2026-10-23 · The Guardian
‘Slow news day at the office’: LeBron James shrugs off Trump’s national anthem attack · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

Donald Trump lashed out at NBA superstar LeBron James on Thursday for what he called disrespectful behavior during the playing of the national anthem. asserted
he → lash → anthem
Trump posted a video of the basketball legend making apparent warm-up movements while lined up with his Philadelphia 76ers teammates before their season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday. asserted
legend → post → Tuesday
“While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! asserted
James → listen → Country
I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network. asserted
Trump → say → network
“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!” he wrote. asserted
he → apologize → that
The video used by Trump had an on-screen caption that read: “LeBron working on his golf swing pregame.” asserted
LeBron → use → pregame
It showed him making lateral swinging motions and basketball shooting movements. asserted
him → show → motions
Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa on Thursday night, renewed the attack, calling James’s actions “a big scandal kind of a story”. asserted
Trump → speak → story
Trump and James have traded barbs before, and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer shrugged off the president’s latest criticism. asserted
scorer → trade → criticism
“It must be a slow news day at the office,” he said after the Sixers completed an epic comeback to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 in Philadelphia. asserted
Sixers → say → Philadelphia
James, 41, is entering a record-extending 24th NBA season with his fourth team. asserted
James → enter → team
Sixers coach Nick Nurse said Trump’s comments were the kind of distractions he was schooling his team to tune out. asserted
he → say → team
“I think that goes right in with other outside noise we’ve already had,” Nurse said. asserted
Nurse → think → noise
“I keep saying the same thing. asserted
I → keep → thing
All I really care about is getting to the practice floor, getting them in the film room, getting them to the game floor. asserted
I → care → floor
“The focus that they’ve had and the intent and all the stuff like that has been outstanding.” asserted
they → have → that
Philadelphia’s win on Thursday marked both the largest comeback by the Sixers in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97) and the largest comeback win of James’s career. asserted
win → mark → career
James finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Tyrese Maxey powered the rally with 32 points and a crucial defensive effort on James Harden. asserted
Maxey → finish → Harden
Jaylen Brown, also making his home debut in a 76ers uniform, scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and 10 in the fourth quarter. asserted
Brown → make → quarter
During his first term, Trump singled out NFL star Colin Kaepernick for his decision to kneel during the Star-Spangled Banner to protest against racial injustice and police brutality. asserted
Trump → single → injustice
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