LeBron James Dismisses Trump’s National Anthem Criticism: ‘Slow News Day at the Office’

LeBron James refused to be drawn into a row with Donald Trump on Thursday night, laughing off the US president’s accusation that he had disrespected the country during the national anthem. “Must have been a slow news day at the office,” the Philadelphia 76ers forward told reporters, smiling as he answered the question after his new club’s historic comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to USA Today.

The 41-year-old, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, was responding to a social media post in which Trump had accused him of continuing his warm-up routine while “The Star-Spangled Banner” was performed before Philadelphia’s season opener against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Cameras captured James moving his arms as if taking a golf swing and mimicking a basketball shot during the anthem, according to USA Today.

Trump, sharing the clip on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, wrote: “While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country!” He added: “I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE. LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!” The Associated Press reported the remarks, noting that James had been lined up alongside teammates who mostly stood still during the anthem.

The president also raised the episode at a campaign rally in Iowa on Thursday, calling it “a big scandal kind of a story”, according to USA Today. Hours later, James gave his answer on the court, and then off it.

In the 76ers’ home opener at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia came back from a 29-point deficit to beat Cleveland 114-106, the biggest comeback win of James’s career, according to the AP. ClutchPoints reported it was also the biggest comeback in 76ers history in the play-by-play era. James finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, the AP reported, while ClutchPoints added five assists and three steals in 33 minutes of action.

Tyrese Maxey led the comeback with 32 points, Joel Embiid added 24 points and seven rebounds, and Jaylen Brown contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists, according to ClutchPoints. James also collided accidentally with team-mate VJ Edgecombe in the third quarter, leaving the second-year guard with a bloody nose, ClutchPoints reported.

It was a pointed contrast to Tuesday night. Before the home opener, Boyz II Men sang the anthem, and James stood with his arms behind his back and his head bowed, according to the AP. He was introduced to a roaring ovation from a crowd of roughly 20,000 at his first home game for Philadelphia.

What Trump Said

The president’s criticism came in two parts, according to the reporting. First came the Truth Social post on Thursday, in which he shared the video from Tuesday’s game in New York and demanded an apology. Trump has been a frequent public critic of James for years, and James has returned the criticism, with the two occasionally trading public swipes, according to the AP.

Second came the rally in Iowa later the same day, where Trump elevated the episode to what USA Today described as a “scandal”. The timing was striking: hours before James was due to make his home debut for Philadelphia, the president of the United States was using his image to stir a crowd.

The post reflected a familiar pattern. Trump has repeatedly targeted high-profile athletes who clash with his politics, and James has been among his most frequent subjects. This time, the flashpoint was a few seconds of pre-game movement during the anthem — warm-up stretching that, on the broadcast footage, drew no reaction from the arena around him.

How James Answered

When a reporter asked about the president’s comments after the game, James asked for the question to be repeated, then looked down with a smirk, according to EssentiallySports. “Must have been a slow news day at the office,” he said slyly, according to the Delaware News Journal’s Delaware Online. “Slow news day in the office,” he added, per USA Today.

The four-time MVP took no further questions on the subject, and moved on to the game. It was a response in miniature of the approach James has taken for years: deny the provocation the escalation it wants.

Coach Nick Nurse, meanwhile, had spent training camp talking at length about the Sixers’ need to tune out outside distractions, according to the AP. Hours before their home opener, the team had to deal with one delivered directly from the White House. BVM Sports reported that Nurse treated the controversy as outside noise and kept the team’s focus on basketball.

The Comeback Win

The basketball itself gave James the last word. Philadelphia trailed by 29 points before storming back, with Maxey’s 32 points powering the rally. For James, playing his record 24th NBA season according to the AP, the night was a landmark: the biggest comeback win of his storied career, and the 76ers’ second straight win to open his first season with the franchise, which stands at 2-0, according to USA Today.

There was a symmetry to the evening that no one could have scripted. The anthem incident had come against the Knicks in New York; the answer came against the Cavaliers in Philadelphia — the franchise with which James won a championship in 2016 and the team he spent his first stint tormenting as an opponent. Standing still during Thursday’s anthem, arms behind his back, head bowed, he offered a wordless reply to the accusation before he ever said a word.

The 29-point rally also spoke to the 76ers’ early chemistry. Embiid and Brown each scored more than 20, Maxey orchestrated the charge, and James filled the stat sheet across the board. It is early — two games into an 82-game season — but Philadelphia’s start has been one of the league’s early stories.

A Long-Running Rivalry

The Trump-James clash did not begin this week. The two have been critical of each other for years, occasionally trading public swipes, according to the AP. The most famous exchange came in 2017, when James responded to Trump’s criticism of Stephen Curry — the Golden State star had declined a White House visit after the championship — with a message that became part of sports-politics folklore: “U bum”, EssentiallySports recalled.

Over the years, James has learned to tune Trump out, choosing not to dignify the attacks with lengthy replies, according to ClutchPoints. Thursday’s answer — five words, delivered with a chuckle — followed that playbook exactly. It was neither an apology, which Trump had demanded, nor a counter-attack. It was a dismissal, offered with the ease of a man who had just come from 29 down.

That dynamic matters beyond these two men. Few athletes in history have combined James’s profile, longevity and willingness to speak on public issues. At 41, in his 24th season and the first in a 76ers uniform, he remains the player presidents notice — and the one least likely to flinch when they do.

Analysis: Why It Matters

The response was the story

James could have given Trump the feud he wanted. He chose instead to make the president’s intervention look like a footnote. “Slow news day at the office” is a line designed to travel: funny enough to quote, sharp enough to sting, and short enough that it cannot be misinterpreted. For a man who has watched Trump turn athlete-baiting into a political tool for a decade, it was a masterclass in not taking the bait. The controversy ended the moment he smiled.

Anthem politics, recycled

The episode is the latest entry in a long American argument about athletes and the anthem. What made Thursday notable was how thin the trigger was: not kneeling, not turning away, not a statement — stretching and shooting motions during a pre-game routine. The standard for outrage has kept moving downward, and this incident marks perhaps its lowest point yet: a warm-up, on a jumbotron, in a road arena, treated as an attack on the flag. That is worth noting, because it tells us the anthem wars are no longer about the anthem at all.

The game did the arguing

There is an old sporting truth that the best answer to off-field noise is on-field performance, and James got the narrative gift of a 29-point comeback on the same night. The contrast — a president calling him a disgrace in the afternoon; a record rally and a bowed head during the anthem in the evening — wrote itself. Athletes cannot schedule such moments, but James, at 41, has played long enough to know how to inhabit them. He let the evening do the rebuttal.

Philadelphia’s early signal

Strip away the politics and the basketball story is compelling on its own. A 29-point comeback against a good Cleveland team, in James’s home debut, with three team-mates over 20 points and the star stuffing the stat sheet — this is what 76ers fans were promised when the franchise added the game’s most accomplished player. Two games do not make a season, and the league’s history is full of October excitement that fades by February. But chemistry cannot be bought, and the early signs in Philadelphia are that this group has it.

What the silence said

Perhaps the most telling detail of the night came before tip-off: James, arms behind his back, head bowed, standing perfectly still while Boyz II Men sang. No one asked him to make a point; the posture made it anyway. In the space of 48 hours he was accused of disrespecting the anthem and then seen honouring it with textbook stillness. The image will outlast the president’s post. That is how these cycles end — not with a ruling, but with a picture that replaces the last one.

What to Watch Next

1. The 76ers’ start: Philadelphia is 2-0 with a new superstar, a healthy Embiid and a 29-point comeback already on the reel. The early-season schedule will test whether this is a contender’s beginning or a highlight that flatters.
2. Trump’s next move: The president has rarely let a one-day story stay one day when athletes are involved. Whether he returns to the subject — and whether the 76ers keep ignoring it — will set the tone for weeks.
3. James’s minutes and mileage: Thirty-three minutes of all-around play at 41, in a record 24th season, including a bloody-nose collision survived. The question hanging over the 76ers’ season is how Nurse manages the league’s oldest star across 82 games.
4. The Cleveland angle: James’s history with the Cavaliers — the franchise he carried to a 2016 title — adds spice to every 76ers-Cavs meeting. Thursday’s comeback against his old club will not be forgotten in Ohio.
5. Anthem protocol, again: Expect league-wide attention on pre-game routines this season. If the bar for controversy is now a warm-up stretch, every arena camera in the country just became a political instrument.

Sources

• USA Today: “LeBron James responds to Trump’s national anthem criticism: ‘Slow news day'”
• Associated Press (via LA Post): “Trump blasts 76ers star LeBron James as ‘disgrace’ for not standing still during national anthem”
• Delaware Online: “‘Slow news day at the office.’ LeBron James responds to Donald Trump”
• ClutchPoints: “76ers news: LeBron James laughs off Donald Trump criticism after historic win”