Carmelo Anthony and Joakim Noah convinced their New York Knicks teammates to lock arms with the Houston Rockets prior to Tuesday night’s preseason tilt during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner.
It was a show of solidarity by the two squads.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wsndcS39IR
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) October 5, 2016
Noah reached out to James Harden and Corey Brewer with his plan not long before the anthem.
Noah, Melo, Harden and Brewer arrange anthem statement that included both teams https://t.co/c8Kn2bpYaU
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) October 5, 2016
Per the NY Daily News:
“Definitely making two teams coming together, you know,” Noah said. “We understand there’s a lot of issues in this country and we wanted to show solidarity and we wanted to show that we’re all in this together.”
NBA teams have made similar gestures during the anthem this preseason, pushing unity over protests such as kneeling down or holding up a fist. Anthony said he wasn’t sure if the Knicks will continue with this gesture this season.
“It just happened (Tuesday),” Anthony said. “We discussed it, myself and (Noah), reached out to James (Harden) and they were on board with it. It’s a matter of coming together to show we’re united.”
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