LeBron James was caught repeatedly mimicking a golf swing during the national anthem before the Philadelphia 76ers opened their season at Madison Square Garden.

The camera lingered on James as he moved through several slow practice-swing motions while his teammates and coaches stood in line for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

It was a jarring sight—and it did not take long for the backlash to erupt.

Clay Travis posted the video Thursday morning and said James had been “toxic for the entire NBA.”

Watch James closely in the clip.

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This was not one quick stretch or an absent-minded movement. He repeated the motion several times, rotating his shoulders and following through as though he were working on his golf game.

Many viewers saw it as an open display of disrespect during one of the few moments when an entire arena is asked to stop, stand and honor the country.

President Trump joined the criticism later Thursday.

WHBL published a Reuters report Thursday saying Trump posted the clip on Truth Social and accused James of disrespecting the country during the national anthem. The report placed the president’s rebuke at the center of the rapidly growing backlash.

“LeBron James should apologize,” Trump wrote.

The president said that apology was owed to the American warriors and heroes who died for the flag and everything it represents. His post put the controversy before a national audience only hours after the video began racing across social media.

The wire service described the footage as showing James moving his body during the anthem at a recent NBA game. It reported no response from James and no disciplinary action from the 76ers or the league.

Trump’s criticism matters because it transformed a sports argument into another chapter of the long-running public feud between the president and one of the NBA’s most outspoken stars.

The response also arrived before Philadelphia’s home opener, ensuring the controversy would follow James from New York back to his new team’s arena.

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There is an important factual line here: the video shows what James did, but it does not prove why he did it.

James did not kneel in the clip or walk off the court.

He did not announce a protest. As of publication, he had not publicly explained the motions or responded to the criticism.

President Trump called the scene a “total disgrace” as footage of the moment continued to circulate:

When every other person in the line is observing the anthem and one of the most famous athletes on Earth is repeatedly pantomiming a golf swing, people are going to draw conclusions. A player with James’ experience knows cameras are trained on him before, during and after every game.

The behavior has drawn attention before. Earlier footage from his time with the Los Angeles Lakers also showed him making golf-swing motions during a pregame anthem ceremony.

The latest incident came before James’ first regular-season game with Philadelphia.

The NBA records show that the 76ers defeated the defending champion New York Knicks 106-100 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

James scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists in his first regular-season game for Philadelphia. He did not have to carry the offense as he did for so many years in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles.

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Philadelphia’s victory made his new role clear. Tyrese Maxey led the scoring, while James and Jaylen Brown supplied veteran size, playmaking and control around the 76ers’ younger core.

The win should have made the basketball story simple: a 41-year-old legend joined a contender and helped beat the reigning champions on their own floor. Instead, the pregame clip became the image many fans carried away from opening night.

The NBA highlighted his performance and his new partnership with Jaylen Brown ahead of Philadelphia’s home opener:

James’ long history with anthem controversies makes the moment even more combustible.

Back in 2016, James said he planned to stand for the anthem while also supporting Colin Kaepernick’s right to protest.

NBA.com reported that James respected Kaepernick’s decision to protest racial injustice, even though he chose a different approach for himself.

James said he intended to stand during the anthem and explained that he believed in peaceful action. His comments came as Kaepernick’s protest was igniting a nationwide argument over patriotism, policing and whether athletes should use the anthem ceremony to make a political statement.

The distinction was clear at the time: James defended another player’s protest while publicly committing to stand himself.

A decade later, the latest clip presents a different question. There was no announced cause, no stated message and no explanation—only repeated golf-swing motions during the anthem and a wave of anger after the video went public.

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James has also been one of President Trump’s most prominent critics in professional sports, and the two men have traded public attacks for years.

That history guarantees that some people will view Tuesday night through a political lens. But no one needs to speculate about James’ private motive to judge the public image.

The national anthem lasts only a couple of minutes.

Standing still and showing basic respect is not a grueling demand. It is the bare minimum expected from everyone in the arena—from the fans in the upper deck to the superstar on the floor.

James is free to speak about politics, protest injustice and criticize any president he wants. Americans are equally free to watch this clip and call his behavior disrespectful.

The argument is no longer about whether the camera caught him.

It did.

Now the question is whether LeBron James believes the moment deserves an explanation—or an apology.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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