Houston Rockets’ player James Harden made headlines and took some online heat after a photo surfaced of him wearing a mask “with a thin blue line, a symbol that represents the Blue Lives Matter nonprofit organization,” according to CNN.
Harden said Friday: “It was just something that covered my whole beard. I thought it looked cool. That was it.”
Harden was among NBA players to arrive in Orlando for the NBA’s return later than his teammates due to “some family issues,” according to ESPN. The Houston Rockets took to Twitter to share a photo of Harden wearing a mask with the caption, “Mask Up.”
The NBA also tweeted a picture of Harden with the mask on calling him “The Masked Beard!”
The tweet has since sparked some controversy because the mask that Harden was seen wearing, many say, “represents a national group of police and their supporters created in response to the Black Lives Matter movement,” CNN reports.
The Washington Post reported that the mask in the photo looks similar to “a number of thin blue line designs that are widely sold online.”
Twitter users have shared their thoughts about the mask, criticism Harden, according to the Washington Post.
But Harden’s friend — rapper Young Thug — stood by the NBA player, according to The Washington Post, saying the Houston Rockets star doesn’t “have internet so he obviously don’t know what’s right or wrong if he posted something that’s against US.”
Earlier on Thursday, Harden told reporters that the peaceful protests in Houston over the death of George Floyd were amazing, per People magazine.
“Just the way the city rallied, it was amazing — I think the world saw it,” he said. “How so many people could come together so close ... Obviously it was for, you know, a tragic reason, but the marching and everything that we’re standing for is very powerful.”
The NBA will soon resume play inside the bubble at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex to maintain a safe environment for teams amid the coronavirus pandemic.