Podcast / Edge of Sports / Oct 2, 2023

Why Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Didn’t Stand for the Anthem

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf joins the show.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf prays during the national anthem at a March 1996 game in Chicago.(M. Spencer Green / AP Photo)

In the early 1990s, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had a promising career ahead of him in the NBA as an up-and-coming star. That all changed in 1996 when he refused to stand for the US national anthem and called the US flag a symbol of oppression. The NBA retaliated by suspending him, and Abdul-Rauf spent the next two decades playing exclusively for international leagues.

On this episode of Edge of Sports, Abdul-Rauf looks back on his protest and how engaging the literature of revolutionary icons like Malcolm X influenced his decision. Elsewhere in the episode, Dave Zirin takes aim at Ron DeSantis’s use of sports to stage a political takeover at the New College of Florida, and Dr. Ron Bishop joins the show to discuss how the sports media covers mental health.

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Basketball Butterfly Effect: Steph Curry & the Knicks | Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin
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Dave Zirin

Dave Zirin is the sports editor at The Nation. He is the author of 11 books on the politics of sports. He is also the coproducer and writer of the new documentary Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL.

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