LeBron James, Doc Rivers, J.J. Redick Don't Care If Donald Trump Watches NBA Games

President Donald Trump isn’t watching the NBA, and the league’s biggest star doesn’t care. LeBron James said players aren’t concerned about Trump turning off the television when athletes kneel during the national anthem.

“I really don't think the basketball community are sad about losing his viewership, him viewing the game,” James told reporters Wednesday night after the Los Angeles Lakers were defeated by the Oklahoma City Thunder. “And that's all I got to say.”

Trump has criticized athletes for not standing during the national anthem ever since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the protest in 2016. The president recently told “Fox & Friends,” that he doesn’t watch games if players participate in the movement, which is meant to protest police brutality.

The NBA returned after a 141-day hiatus last week because of the coronavirus pandemic. Twenty-two of the league’s teams are competing at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Nearly every player and coach has knelt when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is played before each game starts.

“I hope everyone, no matter the race, no matter the color, no matter the size, will see what leadership that we have at the top in our country and understand that November is right around the corner and it’s a big moment for us as Americans,” James said. “If we continue to talk about, ‘We want better, we want change,’ we have an opportunity to do that. But the game will go on without his eyes on it. I can sit here and speak for all of us that love the game of basketball: We could [not] care less.”

James has criticized Trump in the past, even calling the president a “bum” on Twitter when Trump uninvited the champion Golden State Warriors to the White House in 2017. James pointed out that Warriors’ star Stephen Curry was never going to meet with Trump, anyway.

Other's in the league felt much the same way as James.

“Well, we lost one guy,” Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday, via the Los Angeles Times. “Like really, I don’t even care. We know that justice is on our side, right?”

Trump might not tune in, but an average of 3.35 million viewers watched James and the Lakers return last week. An average of 2.11 million people watched the Utah Jazz defeat the New Orleans Pelicans in the very first NBA game back.

“I don’t think anybody in the NBA cares if President Trump watches basketball.” Pelicans guard J.J. Redick told Yahoo Sports a week ago. “As far as his base, I think regardless of the specificity of tweeting about the NBA, every tweet of his is meant to divide, every tweet is meant to incite, every tweet is meant to embolden his base.”