Basketball Star Lisa Leslie Says Trump 'Trying to Be a Dictator'
*By Michael Teich*
As a four-time Olympic gold medalist, Lisa Leslie is used to wearing the red, white, and blue, and though she prefers to stand for the national anthem, the former basketball star said everyone has the right to express their opinions.
"I would not kneel because that’s not what I want to stand for, but I am very much in support of black men to have the opportunity to have equal rights," Leslie said Wednesday in an interview with Cheddar.
The former WNBA star said President Trump's obsession with NFL players choosing to kneel during the anthem doesn't reflect America's democratic values.
"There are so many things going on in the world that are more important than what's happening, that he focuses so much on trying to be the dictator of our country," Leslie said, adding: "It's very sad where we are, and how much we've opened ourselves up into being a true reality show."
After berating football players several times for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality, Trump again lashed out at the NFL by canceling the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles' invitation to the White House after he learned only some of players planned to attend.
President Trump’s antagonism with the NFL and its players has gone beyond the anthem and now appears to be in service of his own political agenda, said Frank Zaccanelli, the CEO of Fiamma Partners and former president and co-owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.
"This is not defendable," Zaccanelli said in his own interview with Cheddar. "What he has done is he has created an incredible canyon between, not only the sports world, but people who are sensitized to his rhetoric that is divisive and offensive.”
Leslie isn't the only basketball star to speak out against Trump singling out football players. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant expressed their dissatisfaction with Trump.
"I know regardless of who wins this series, no one wants an invite anyway," said James, whose Cleveland Cavaliers are down 3-0 to Curry and Durant's Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals.
Zaccanelli said if he still owned an NBA championship team, he would "probably not" accept an invitation to the White House under these circumstances.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/comedy-on-the-court).
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing rapidly approaching, clouds of controversy continue to swirl around China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority population, its surveillance state, and security for visiting athletes. Phelim Kine, China correspondent for Politico, joined Cheddar to break down the big storylines surrounding the Beijing Games and highlight what he saw as the complete disregard by top corporate sponsors like P&G, Airbnb, Intel, Visa, and Coca-Cola, for the controversies. "They spend $100 million for every Olympics that they sponsor, and they have frankly shown absolute willful indifference to any type of entreaty to essentially be more vocal about their concerns about human rights in China," he said. Kine also touched on the data privacy fears for athletes as visiting contingents are being told to carry burner phones to avoid security risks.
NFL games continue to be among some of the highest-rated programs on television. In 2021, viewership jumped 10 percent from the previous year to an average of 17.1 million as the league debuted its first 18-week season after running on a 16-week schedule since 1978. Fans — and team owners — welcomed the change with open arms, but a vocal percentage of players were not as ecstatic (despite the union signing off). Those who were against adding games cited health and safety concerns as their main reason. While the extended season means fatter pockets for the league, the opposition asks: is it worth the risk? Cheddar's JD Durkin breaks it all down.
With the Australian Open set to begin on Monday, Novak Djokovic is once again being threatened with deportation from Australia after his visa was briefly reinstated and revoked again over alleged discrepancies. Djokovic’s team will sit for an Immigration hearing on Saturday.
Decorated skier Lindsey Vonn did not hold back when touching on mental health in "Rise," her new memoir. "My mental health is definitely part of my story," she said. "Now I'm just thankful that this conversation is so much more talked about — Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Kevin Love, Michael Phelps, all have been outspoken about it." She noted that she felt happy that readers, particularly kids, get to see a vulnerable side to her in the book. The gold medalist also went on to note what she's most looking forward to watching in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It was 'game on' for sports bettors in the state of New York, as mobile betting kicked off on four major betting operating platforms Saturday. This comes at an exciting time for sports fans with some of the biggest NFL games of the season right around the corner. Cam Rogers - Host of Lock It In with Cam Rogers, Betting Analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Former wide receiver for the New York Giants, Victor Cruz has partnered with Krystal Restaurants, a popular burger chain in the South, to bring the franchise to his home state of New Jersey. Cruz and Alice Crowder, CMO of Krystal Restaurants, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the venture. The five new locations will be known as "Victor Cruz's Krystal," decked out with memorabilia from his football career, with the former player explaining how "hands-on" he plans on being. "You never know, OK? You might walk in and Victor Cruz will be flipping a burger back there, and you might be getting it directly from the source," he said.
Max Bichsel, vice president at Gambling.com Group joins Cheddar News to talk about the growing sports betting industry, New York legalizing mobile betting, and 2022 predictions for the sector.
Cody Roark, NFL analyst at Pro Football Network joins Cheddar News to talk about NFL playoff predictions and which teams have a shot at the Super Bowl.
