After prohibiting Sevyn Streeter from singing the national anthem at the Sixers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday (October 26), officials for the Philadelphia 76ers are apologizing.
“We are sorry that this happened,” they wrote in a statement. “After receiving feedback from our players, basketball operations staff and ownership group, we believe the wrong decision was made, and Sevyn should have been welcomed to sing.”
The message comes after their initial statement released to NBC Sports yesterday, which read:
“The Philadelphia 76ers organization encourages meaningful actions to drive social change. We use our games to bring people together, to build trust and to strengthen our communities. As we move from symbolic gestures to action, we will continue to leverage our platform to positively impact our community.”
Prior to the Sixers’ statement, Sevyn called into Hot 97 to discuss the incident shortly after taking to Twitter to explain to fans what happened.
“That organization flat-out told me that I can not wear my shirt while singing the national anthem at their game,” she told Ebro. She goes on to explain that no rationale was given as to why her shirt was an issue. “I was very excited to sing the national anthem, but at the same time I also just felt like it was important to express all the injustice in our country every single day.”
