'I almost got kicked out of NBA for saying free Palestine'

In an interview with The GAUDs Show, NBA player Dwight Howard highlighted how raising the plight of the Palestinians almost got him kicked off the league. ' I tweeted Free Palestine. Less than 10 minutes later, I got a call from the NBA commissioner, agents, people in my foundation, and even folks from Texas, telling me to take it down,’ he said.

‘I almost got kicked out of #NBA for saying #FreePalestine‘

In an interview with The GAUDs Show, NBA player @DwightHoward highlighted how raising the plight of the Palestinians almost got him kicked off the league. ‘ I tweeted Free #Palestine. Less than 10 minutes later, I got a… pic.twitter.com/Axeod25Bc3

— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 8, 2025

A former American basketball star has revealed that a few years ago he was forced to delete a social media post in support of Palestine.

“When you’re in the NBA [National Basketball Association], there are a lot of things you want to say, that you could say, but you know if you say them, there will be repercussions and you get into a lot of trouble,” said Dwight Howard on Tuesday in an interview with Ray Daniels on the “GAUDS” show on YouTube.

“For example, a couple of years ago when I played for the Houston Rockets, I tweeted ‘Free Palestine’, and I almost got kicked out of the league for it. I was just trying to figure out why.”

Before the post, he said, he interacted with some Palestinian fans, who asked him to spread awareness about their homeland, which is under a decades-long Israeli occupation.

“Me having a big heart, I’m like, ‘you know what, I want people to know the struggles you all are having’ … So, I tweet ‘Free Palestine’. Less than 10 minutes later, I got a call from the NBA commissioner, agents, people in my foundation, and even folks from Texas: ‘you gotta erase this tweet!, you gotta take this down!’ I was like, ‘What did I do that was so bad? Can somebody explain’?”

An eight-time NBA All-Star, Howard played for several franchises and won the NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, as has the Gaza Strip. The other 78 per cent of historic Palestine was occupied by Zionists in 1948 during the Nakba, which included the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians and the destruction of at least 500 Palestinian towns and villages.

Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has been under a blockade since 2007, has killed 46,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and wounded 110,000 others. The enclave has been reduced to rubble, while the people face food shortages and almost all have been displaced at least once.

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