Always be wary of a guy holding a phone recording you outside of a night club. Sacramento Kings wing, Ben McLemore, learned that lesson over the weekend.
McLemore was asked a direct question while standing next to his vehicle outside of a Hollywood nightclub. The resulting answers morphed into a sensationalized headline and lede on TMZ.com.
“I’m just wondering how you feel about ESPN not airing the national anthem this year, what do you think about that for Monday Night Football?,” the unseen person asks McLemore.
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“I mean, you should always represent our nation,” McLemore responds as someone inside his car yells at him to get in. “You know what I’m saying, that’s how I feel.”
He’s asked a follow up question, much of which is inaudible, but what can be made out is whether, “…is the message being lost.”
“In their case, it’s getting lost,” McLemore says about the NFL. “But for our sport, in the NBA, I think it’s not. We show appreciation to the nation.”
That exchange lasted all of a minute before McLemore was finally coaxed into his vehicle. He awoke Sunday morning to the following headline - “NBA's Ben McLemore Kneeling NFL Players ... Not Representing America.”
In addition to the eye-opening title, the lede catches viewers as well - “Ben McLemore has strong words for kneeling NFL players ... telling TMZ Sports they're not only disrespecting the nation -- but their message is getting lost in the controversy too!!”
Sunday morning, McLemore released the following statement via social media:
McLemore is in his second tour of duty with the Sacramento Kings. The 25-year-old guard was acquired over the summer via trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, along with Deyonta Davis in exchange for veteran Garrett Temple.