A singer hired to perform the national anthem before Thursday’s Golden State Warriors game against Miami pulled out a Pride flag mid-song and waved it while nodding along, then shrugged off the criticism that followed.
The moment came during the Warriors’ Pride Night. Singer Jason Brock reached the line “What so proudly we hailed” in the Star-Spangled Banner and produced a small Pride flag, waving it as he continued singing.
The crowd’s reaction was muted. Cameras then caught several Warriors players appearing to laugh during the performance.
Brock pushed back on the idea that the players were laughing at him or the anthem. “Wow I didn’t interpret it like this, but I wasn’t watching the players,” he wrote on X. “Just because they were laughing doesn’t mean it was because of the anthem.”
No confirmation has emerged as to why the players were laughing. Brock’s statement did not address why he chose to wave the flag during the anthem itself, rather than before or after the performance.
The incident follows other recent national anthem controversies in professional sports, including scrutiny over how the anthem was handled during the WNBA Finals.
