Rauf keeps up anthem protest
MAHMOUD Abdul-Rauf is no longer in the NBA, but that didn’t stop him from continuing his protest of the national anthem.
Before the start of the first-ever Big3 professional 3-On-3 league produced by rapper Ice Cube, Abdul-Rauf, the first face of anthem protest, placed his hands out, palms up, in prayer just as Francis Scott Key’s ballad rang through Barclays Center Sunday afternoon.
Twenty years before Colin Kaepernick sat/kneeled during the playing of the StarSpangled Banner, Abdul-Rauf, a muslim, made headlines back in 1996 when he sat during the song, stating then that the American flag was a symbol of oppression and went against his religion of Islam, before working out a compromise with the NBA of praying instead.
Abdul-Rauf, 48, received death threats and hate mail for his stance and was out of the league by 1998, spending the next decade playing abroad.
“He was my favorite player,” said Ice Cube.
Abdul-Rauf spoke with the Daily News Friday about his experience and the case of Kaepernick, who has been unable to find a job in the NFL this offseason.
“He’s being black-balled,” said AbdulRauf. “I’m not surprised. As soon as it happened, I expected it. The same thing happened to me.”
Abdul-Rauf went on to call out the NFL for finding work for players involved in domestic violence, but not a man who has committed no crime and donated a million dollars to charities over the past year.
“It’s disturbing to me that it’s easy for teams to take back players that have been physically abusive, brought up on charges,” said Abdul-Rauf. “And (Kaepernick) was speaking his conscience.
“He’s not committed a criminal act but what’s happening to him is criminal.”