When the then POTUS Donald Trump called NBA players “very nasty” and “very dumb” for kneeling during national anthem

Over the years, NBA players have been among the most vocal pro athletes when it comes to social justice issues. Using their platform to get their message across resulted in a high-ranking official making some distasteful comments towards them.

In an effort to spread the message on injustices towards African-American men, athletes across all major sports began kneeling during the national anthem. When countless NBA players got in on this practice, former president Donald Trump had some harsh remarks.

During a radio interview, Trump called players dumb and said what they were doing was hurting the sport as a whole.

"They've had horrible ratings, low numbers. People are angry about it. They have enough politics with guys like me. There was a nastiness about the NBA the way (protesting) was done. The NBA is in trouble, bigger trouble than they understand."

"I haven't noticed them sending (criticism) back to me. I wouldn't be surprised. There are some very, very, very nasty, frankly very dumb (players). I haven't noticed that."

"The kneeling (during the national anthem) has been horrible for basketball."

All these comments were in reference to things players did in the bubble when the league kicked back up after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Donald Trump uninvited NBA players to the White House following championship win

This was not the first time that Donald Trump had a run-in with professional basketball players. The feud began back in 2017, when he took back an invitation to come to the White House.

Typically, teams make a trip to the White House after winning a title. That was not the case for the Golden State Warriors in 2017. Not long after their victory, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and others said they would not be accepting the invitation.

Donald Trump did not take these comments lightly and later called out the Warriors' star guard. He put out a tweet stating that Curry was hesitating and his invite was no longer on the table.

One player who spoke out against this when it happened was LeBron James. He called Trump a bum and pointed out that Curry was never going to the White House in the first place.

"U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!" James tweeted.

Following their finals win last season, the Warriors did accept their invite this time around with president Joe Biden. The team is slated to attend the White House on January 17th.