Masks have become the norm during the pandemic, and what someone wears on their face, could potentially represent their beliefs.
Some people have their favorite team on their face, while others opt for a plain mask.
James Harden took his mask game to the next level.
Harden’s face covering featured the “thin blue line,” a pro-police symbol that critics have long claimed also stands for white supremacy and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement.
It also featured a Punisher skull, which has been associated with far-right groups.
Neither the Rockets nor the NBA, which also shared an image of Harden’s mask to their Twitter account’s more than 30 million followers, responded late Thursday to questions about where Harden got the mask or whether it was meant as a political statement.
Twitter then did its thing, as people were not amused:
The vast majority of NBA players have strongly supported the Black Lives Matter movement, and my guess is, Harden does too.
He probably didn’t know much about the mask he was wearing.
Lesson here is always know what your mask means.