James Harden was just doing what society was telling him to do, and that was putting on a mask. Too bad he didn’t realize (or so he says) that the mask he broadcast to the world via a photo on Twitter was a pro-police flag, because he suddenly found himself on the ugly side of an anti-police Twitter mob.
On July 16, the Houston Rockets star posed for a photo wearing a navy blue American flag bandana that was emblazoned with a skull. The photo, posted to the Houston Rockets’ official Twitter account, was part of a tweet encouraging Houston basketball fans to do the safe thing during Chinese Virus. The photo’s caption read, “Mask Up.” Unfortunately, lefties were quick to sniff out the pro-police message of the navy blue mask.
On the one hand, great for Harden to show solidarity with the mask police, but as far as his support for the real police, that’s a big no no.
Led by African American R&B singer Trey Songz, anti-police and far left Twitter users swarmed Harden and the NBA’s photo. Songz, who had a couple of hit songs somewhere back in the 2010s, retweeted Harden’s photo and commented, “This certified clown shit. I’ll say it for everybody who scared to. FOH [Fuck Outta Here].”
Yeah, backing the blue is a taboo in the entertainment industry now.
CW network Actor Robert C. Riley responded to Songz angry tweet, writing, “We’re gonna have to assume [Harden] didn’t know...right?!?...please say Yes…”
Former NFL player Dominique Hamilton slammed Harden as well, tweeting, “James Harden the NBA choke artist supporting legit chokers. Hate it had to be him." Another user tweeted, “the ignorance on display here is bananas. James Harden and the @HoustonRockets social media team are either unwittingly spreading fascist iconography or willingly doing so.”
Other famous users assumed that Harden couldn’t have possibly known what he was wearing, as that’s the only explanation as to why an African American would wear such a mask. Popular hip hop star Young Thug tweeted, “Just so u know James harden is my brada[sic]... btw he don’t have internet so he obviously don’t know what’s right or wrong if he posted something that’s against US.” Yeah Harden couldn’t possibly be thinking for himself, could he?
Unfortunately, on July 17, Harden leaned into the convenient excuse that he had no idea that his mask had a pro-police message. He claimed that he meant nothing political with the photo. The Houston Rockets shooting guard claimed, “I felt like it was just something to cover my whole face, my beard. Masks that I’ve worn before kind of stopped right here. It was just something to cover my whole beard. I thought it looked cool. That’s it.”
Hmm, alright. Or could it be that he pulled a Drew Brees and backtracked on his political statement because of the backlash? The world may never know.
