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[Jolly Sports News] The NBA has pushed back against a claim recently made by Dwight Howard during a podcast appearance.
Howard, an eight-time NBA All-Star, shared on The GAUDs Show this week that in 2014, the NBA pressured him to delete a tweet that read “Free Palestine.” Howard claimed he received a direct call from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, instructing him to take down the post.
“When you’re in the NBA, there are a lot of things you want to say, but if you say them, there will be repercussions,” Howard said, according to sources. “For example, when I played for the Houston Rockets, I tweeted ‘Free Palestine,’ and I almost got kicked out of the league for it. I was just trying to understand why. I had spoken with Palestinians who shared their struggles, and I wanted to express support.”
Howard added, “Less than 10 minutes after tweeting it, I got a call from the NBA commissioner, agents, people in my foundation, and even folks from Texas, telling me to take it down. They said, ‘You’re going to get into trouble. You need to delete this tweet.’ I asked, ‘What did I do that was so bad?’”
In July 2014, Howard did tweet about Palestine but later deleted the post, calling it “a mistake.” However, the NBA has now publicly denied his recent claims. In a statement, league spokesperson Mike Bass called Howard’s account “categorically false,” clarifying that Silver did not contact Howard regarding the tweet.
At the time of the tweet, Howard had just completed his first season with the Houston Rockets, and Silver, who is of Jewish descent, was only a few months into his role as commissioner, having succeeded David Stern in February 2014.
The NBA has previously faced criticism over its handling of geopolitical issues, particularly its relationship with China. However, the league has strongly denied Howard’s assertion that they intervened to censor his post about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
