Houston Rockets star James Harden has received a lot of backlash for wearing a controversial mask at the bubble. Pictures of the 2018 NBA MVP wearing a suspicious mask surfaced on Thursday night and fans were quick to slam him for that. Harden was spotted using a face covering that showed a skull on top of a black-and-white American flag pattern with a single blue stripe running through it.
The Masked Beard!#WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/DJrp23M5TL
— NBA (@NBA) July 17, 2020
This design is associated with the Blue Lives Matter movement, which obviously didn’t please any fan. Social media went crazy after Harden’s photos saw the light, with some celebrities even attacking him for the piece he was wearing.
NBA Twitter is going crazy after James Harden was spotted wearing a Thin Blue Line Mask pic.twitter.com/2h1aCCBK4c
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 17, 2020
This certified clown shit. I’ll say it for everybody who scared to. FOH https://t.co/pVRMaL9dPG
— Trey Songz (@TreySongz) July 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/sporker_/status/1283939474372788226https://twitter.com/boatss/status/1283936154102960129https://twitter.com/GarrettFitzsim1/status/1283950465122738176
James Harden supporting cops isn’t surprising when you consider his game is based on authority figures making judgment calls
— Geb (@gebguddaye) July 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/BobbyBigWheel/status/1283938455609909255https://twitter.com/Hou5ton4L/status/1283944122596950016https://twitter.com/Hernandez81GOAT/status/1283945226277617664
Harden has expressed his support to the Black Lives Matter so it’d be crazy to assure he did this on purpose. Still, somebody could’ve told him the real meaning of this symbol. Even rapper Young Thug tried to defend Harden but his attempts were useless.
Just so u know James harden is my brada… 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…but I hate when rappers get in niggas biz like it’s can’t happen to em💥 buster let niggas clear they shit up activist
— Young Thug ひ (@youngthug) July 17, 2020
He’s not using any social media since he’s 100% focused on the NBA season, so it’s hard for him to see all the reactions his pictures created. James isn’t precisely the most beloved player in the NBA and this situation won’t help his case. Hopefully, somebody can explain to him what is wrong with that symbolism and why is contradictory that he uses it when he’s a strong supporter of the BLM movement.
