Odds Heavily Against Donald Trump Tweeting About National Anthem Protests on NBA Restart Opening Night

• With the politically-active NBA returning Thursday, odds are against President Trump responding to National Anthem protests on Twitter
• There are also odds on whether or not LeBron James will address the killing of Breonna Taylor
• Read below for a deeper look at the odds on the political and social justice side of the NBA’s Orlando restart

The NBA regular season will resume Thursday night, and with it there is sure to come some form of demonstration or protest. The league’s players, coaches, and executives have a history of making political statements, and often, the president has taken to Twitter to respond.

So many in the league have joined protests and spoken out about the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other victims of police brutality, and it is very likely that we will see more National Anthem protests on Thursday. It will be interesting to see if there is, once again, a Tweet from President Trump.

Odds Donald Trump Tweets About NBA Anthem Protests

All odds taken Jul. 29th

Trump’s Plate Already Too Full for NBA Online Beef

It may be surprising to see the odds against a Tweet, considering just how active the president has been on the app throughout the last four years. However, there a few reasons he may not go after the NBA on Thursday.

The first of those is the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus continues to spread throughout the United States, including Florida, which set a new record for deaths on Wednesday. With that context, taking to Twitter for another spat with basketball players certainly wouldn’t be a good look.

The other is that, for a large part, the NBA community is far from his base. Trump has gone to battle with NBA players and coaches in the past and at this point, another rekindling of a feud between the president and the league would do very little to move the needle in either direction.

Considering a majority in the United States now supports players kneeling, it will be tough to win a social media war against the players whose popularity could never be higher than here as the sports we so desperately love finally return.

Odds on How Many Times LeBron Will Mention Breonna Taylor on Thursday

Will LeBron Speak Out About Breonna Taylor?

One of the league’s most outspoken players has also been the player with the biggest platform, LeBron James. He hasn’t shied away from addressing social justice issues, and has especially made a point of discussing Breonna Taylor, the Louisville woman who was killed in her home by police on March 13th of this year.

As play resumes Thursday, and the platform becomes even bigger for the star Laker, it stands to reason that LeBron will again make use of his voice.

Breonna Taylor’s killing has been one of the major social justice talking points across the country, including within the NBA’s Orlando bubble. Many players, including James, have used their media availability to speak out on the topic. The post-game interview on the court may be a player’s highest visibility chance to speak to the public – so it will be interesting to see if players take advantage of it.

Some games are more tense late than others, and after a tight game, we may hear less of players speaking about social issues and complicated topics after a game-winning shot or stop.

However, in a blowout situation where a player’s mind isn’t so wrapped up in basketball, it won’t be surprising at all to hear a player like LeBron take that platform and use it to highlight societal issues, namely police brutality and the killing of Breonna Taylor.