Warriors Can’t Contain Laughter As National Anthem Singer Waves Pride Flag

This article was written by Gus Wilson and published on Sport & State, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.

* * * * *

Before Thursday night’s matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, singer Jason Broccoli was selected to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” as part of the Warriors’ Pride Night celebration at Chase Center.

Apparently, an entire night dedicated to Pride wasn’t enough.

During his performance, Broccoli pulled out a rainbow Pride flag and began waving it while singing the lyrics “what so proudly we hailed,” the line specifically referring to the American flag.

Unfortunately for Broccoli, his display didn’t appear to get the most serious reaction from some of the players.

A gay man singing the national anthem at a Golden State Warriors game pulls out a pride flag during the anthem and waves it around. https://t.co/5WlqTOm70B

— Bruce Snyder (@realBruceSnyder) November 6, 2026

As the camera panned toward the Warriors, Charles Bassey and De’Anthony Melton could be seen laughing during the performance.

Whether the two were laughing specifically at Broccoli’s flag-waving remains unclear, but the timing certainly made for an interesting moment.

Coming just two days after the midterm elections, it seems like Broccoli, and potentially the Warriors, were making a statement.

The Warriors were already hosting a night dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ community.  Did the national anthem really need to be part of it?

For a song meant to bring Americans together under one flag, pulling out another flag at the exact moment the lyrics reference the Stars and Stripes seems like an unnecessary attempt to make the moment about something else.

Not everything in sports needs to become another cultural statement. The national anthem should just be the national anthem.

At the time of publication, neither the Warriors nor the NBA has responded to Sport & State‘s request for comment regarding Thursday night’s incident.