The national anthem is a moment of standing still. LeBron James, debuting for the Philadelphia 76ers in the Oct. 20 season opener at Madison Square Garden, used it as a driving range — practicing his golf swing and going through his shooting motion while the anthem played.
The clip spread. President Trump demanded an apology on Truth Social on Oct. 22, calling James a "TOTAL DISGRACE," and mocked the swing again at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa that night, calling it "a big scandal kind of a story." James answered after the 76ers' win over the Cavaliers: "Must (have been) a slow news day at the office, you know? Slow news day in the office."
No evidence shows James meant the routine as a protest — it reads as his usual pregame warmup, performed at the wrong moment. But the outrage cycle that followed treated the criticism, not the conduct, as the scandal. The swing was the story for a day; the scolding of the scolding is the story now.
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The anthem played. The golf swing didn't wait. The news cycle, as ever, found something slower to cover.
The underlying reporting is filed in the Evidence Locker: USA TODAY (Oct. 23, 2026); New York Post (Oct. 23, 2026).
