Tom Gores (File photo)
Before Wednesday's home opener at Little Caesars Arena, Pistons owner Tom Gores was asked if he supported a player taking a knee.
"If that’s what he wants to do, absolutely," Gores said, Vince Ellis writes in the Detroit Free Press.
Gores is one of the few professional sports owners to forcefully defend players taking the knee, a sharp contrast to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones who said he wants players to stand during the national anthem.
Ellis notes that the Pistons stood during the anthem, though center Andre Drummond wore his warmup hoodie over his head. He said he was just cold.
After the presidential election, some NBA coaches spoke out forcefully against President Donald Trump including Pistons Coach Stan Van Gundy, who said:
“I don't think anybody can deny this guy is openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic. We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus, and I have problems with thinking this is where we are as a country.”
More recently Van Gundy spoke out about Trump's opposition to players kneeling:
"While it is unfortunate that our current president has made our national anthem a divisive issue, the positive is that people are now talking about some very important problems.
"There are serious issues of inequality and injustice in this country. People of conscience are compelled to oppose racism, sexism and intolerance of people of different sexual identities and orientation wherever and whenever they see it. I stand with those opposing such bigotry. I as an individual and the Detroit Pistons as an organization support diversity, inclusion and equality."
