Next Time Mark Cuban Nixes National Anthem, He'll Have to Repay Government Funds

A swarm of recently passed laws in Texas went into effect on Wednesday. As of September 1, the state now requires all-pro teams in Texas to play the Star-Spangled Banner before home games.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick prioritized this law after Mark Cuban removed the national anthem from the Dallas Mavericks' pre-game rituals last season.

Should Cuban nix the anthem again, the Texas House will force Cuban and his team to repay government funds received from the state, which could amount to millions of dollars.

In other words, it won't be a problem moving forward.

"We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country," Cuban said, defending his decision. "But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them."

Those who feel that the anthem does not represent them, huh? I hear this but remain baffled by the idiocy. The anthem represents our country, a country that symbolizes freedom. Freedom is what unites us. So who exactly does that not include?

Furthermore, Cuban didn't remove the anthem for his players. Instead, he tried pandering to people who don't watch sports. You know them. They are on Twitter and have bylines in the Washington Post.

Hilariously, Cuban didn't accomplish anything with his ruling. After Cuban's decision made waves, Adam Silver reinforced an NBA policy that requires teams to play the national anthem before each game. Now, Texas made a law in response.

By the way, I still can't get over how Megyn Kelly created a dead body out of Mark Cuban last year.