he didn't last long in the NBA once he started this nonsense, only he was known as mahmound abdul-rauf by then.

Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy created when he refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games, stating that the flag was a symbol of oppression and that the United States had a long history of tyranny. He said that standing to the national anthem would therefore conflict with his Islamic beliefs. On March 12, 1996, the NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf one game for his refusal to stand. Two days later, the league was able to work out a compromise with him, whereby he would stand during the playing of the national anthem but could close his eyes and look downward. He usually silently recited Islamic Prayer during this time.

In an apparent publicity stunt linked to this controversy, four employees of Denver's KBPI radio station were charged with misdemeanor offenses related to entering a Colorado mosque and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a bugle and trumpet, in a provocative response to Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national anthem. Like Abdul-Rauf, the dee-jays were briefly suspended but ultimately they publicly apologized and reconciled with the mosque community.

The anthem controversy in 1996 made Abdul-Rauf the first professional athlete to be punished in relation to conduct during the national anthem since the two US Olympic sprinters who had raised “black power” fists in 1968.