Report: NBA issues memo urging teams to stand for the national anthem

NBA commissioner Adam Silver's office reportedly issued a memo urging players to stand for the national anthem. On the eve of the NBA's first preseason games, the league office issued a memo to all 30 teams stressing an existing rule requiring personnel to stand for the national anthem and suggesting alternative ways for players to express their political and social views, per ESPN.com's Zach Lowe. The memo comes at the end of a week in which President Donald Trump rescinded a White House invitation to the NBA champion Golden State Warriors and used the term "sons of bitches" to describe NFL players who follow former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's lead of kneeling in protest of racial inequality, social injustice and police brutality during the national anthem.