Singer says NBA team canceled her anthem performance over 'We Matter' jersey
The NFL isn't the only league with a national anthem controversy.
R&B singer Sevyn Streeter was supposed to perform the national anthem before an NBA game on Wednesday night -- but says the Philadelphia 76ers scrapped her performance.
Streeter was scheduled to perform before the Sixers' opening game, and planned to do so in a black jersey reading "We Matter." That's what got her performance nixed, according to a message she posted to Twitter.
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"I'd say two minutes before we were about to walk out ... the organization told me that I could not wear my shirt while singing the national anthem at their game," Streeter told the Associated Press. "I was never given any kind of dress code. I was never asked beforehand to show my wardrobe."
A member of the Sixers dance team performed the anthem instead.
The 76ers declined an AP inquiry about why Streeter's performance was canceled Wednesday night, but held a meeting with players Thursday to discuss the situation.
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"Multiple" players came out of that meeting unhappy about what they'd been told, according to an ESPN report.
"I was angry, extremely, extremely angry, and disappointed and honestly brought to tears by all of it. It broke my heart," Streeter told the AP. "Honestly, I was very excited about being able to perform the national anthem. I was really looking forward to that."
Before a Miami Heat preseason game this month, singer Denasia Lawrence performed the national anthem while kneeling and wearing a shirt reading "Black Lives Matter" underneath her blazer. A singer named Chris Porterfield performed the anthem with "Black Lives Matter" emblazoned on his guitar before a Milwaukee Bucks game Wednesday night.
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But so far this season, no NBA players have matched the dramatic silent anthem protests that have spread across the NFL and beyond since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling before games.
NBA players have been among the more politically outspoken athletes in American sports in the past, however, so this remains a subplot to follow as the season continues.
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
