The Messy Marriage of Sports and Politics; Kuminga Shines, Porzingas Sits

Sports and politics have always been strange bedfellows. 

The Olympic Games are the most obvious example of this incendiary union. But thanks to the current political climate, the intersection of sports and politics has become fertile ground for exploitation and propaganda.

Ideally, sports promote competition, discipline, teamwork, winning with grace, losing with class, camaraderie, fairness, mental toughness and physical fitness, along with a host of other qualities and benefits.

At the Olympic Games, nations from throughout the world come together to celebrate and promote athletic competition "in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play," with political issues supposedly set aside.

Supposedly.

Over the years, we've seen some monumental political incidents at the Olympics, including Jesse Owens single handedly destroying Adolf Hitler's 1936 Nazi showcase in Berlin, Tommie Smith and John Carlos' black gloved protest at Mexico City in '68, the Munich Massacre of Israeli team members in '72, America's boycott of the 1980 games in Moscow to protest Russia's invasion of Afghanistan, and Russia's subsequent boycott of the '84 games in Los Angeles, to name just a few.

In recent years, many athletes and coaches in the U.S. have used their platforms to speak out on any number of issues. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, the NFL, NBA and WNBA were particularly active in promoting racial equality.

That didn't go over so well with President Donald J. Trump.

In 2017 and '18 Trump demanded that NFL owners fire players who refused to stand for the national anthem in protest of racism or police brutality, at one point demanding "get that son of a bitch off the field." He's frequently blasted the NBA for being "too political," "nasty" and "disgraceful."

Trump and his minions often scream "stick to sports" or "shut up and dribble" when an athlete like LeBron James criticizes the current administration's blatant racism or its attack on our freedoms and norms, but they take advantage of any opportunity to cozy up to champions and athletes who are sympathetic to their agenda. 

We used to call people like Trump "jock sniffers," because they know nothing, pretend to be knowledgeable, and love to get their pictures taken with athletes.

Trump failed in his bid to become an NFL owner years ago, and later helped kill the USFL with his profligate spending, but lately he has turned sports into a tool to distract from the Epstein scandal, ICE killings, his incessant grifting and mendacity, not to mention starting a war with Iran.

The latest pawn in Trump's effort to wrap himself in the unifying power of sports was the gold medal-winning US men's hockey team.

Last week, he invited the team to the White House and his State of the Union Address. This after his beer-chugging FBI director Kash Patel partied in the locker room with the team--at taxpayer expense--and Trump joked that he "had to bring" the women's hockey team to the White House as well. 

That joke bombed with everyone other than MAGA misogynists.

However, almost every sport in America has now been co-opted by Trump and utilized for his political gain (as summarized in a recent issue of Awful Announcing). To wit:

• The NFL suffered through months of controversy about the selection of Bad Bunny to star in the Super Bowl halftime, which led to an alternative halftime show for MAGA types featuring Kid Rock. Trump has shown up in NFL broadcast booths, wants stadiums named after him and will host the NFL draft in D.C.

  
  

• The president also frequents college football games, especially in the South, where much of his base resides, cozies up to star players and coaches, and plays golf with Nick Saban and Urban Meyer. This Friday he will convene the first meeting of the "Saving College Sports Roundtable," featuring more than three dozen prominent sports and political figures.

  
  

• Trump is popular with MMA stars and will host one of its events this summer. He's also close to the WWE, hosted WrestleMania in Atlantic City, and even appointed WWE co-founder Linda McMahon to his cabinet.

  
  

• Auto racing legend Roger Penske is a Trump supporter and is bringing IndyCar to D.C. 

  
  

• And as we know, the president plays a lot of golf and owns several courses. He showed up at the Ryder Cup First Tee, will host a tour event at his Doral course this year, and has played with Tiger Woods. 

  
  

  Lots of photo opps.

• Last but certainly not least, he was awarded the FIFA Peace Prize--whatever that is--for his contributions to international soccer and world peace.

What does all this mean for American sports stars in 2026?

It means athletes must realize that, in this climate, championships and celebrations can become political chess pieces.

Trump is a master media manipulator who understands the positive optics of standing with sports heroes and game winners. The reflected patriotism of Team USA or a "World Champion" in any sport helps the incumbent and comes across as an endorsement. 

Their triumphs, their gold medals, their trophies, all become attached to Trump.

Temporarily.

Because sportswashing can only accomplish so much, as the Saudis have learned with their LIV golf tour, and Trump will learn with his shenanigans.

The images fade, but the stench remains.

Kuminga Shines, Porzingas Sits: We've made our feelings known about Jonathan Kuminga for some time. 

How one of the Warriors' few decent first round draft picks was under-appreciated and mishandled by the team, showing flashes of brilliance but relegated to the end of the bench, ending with the ridiculous trade for oft-injured, illness plagued, short-timer Kristaps Porzingas.

Porzingas, as we predicted, has barely played for the Warriors. So far he's made it to the floor in only one game, for 17 minutes. Otherwise MIA.

Meanwhile, down in Atlanta, Kuminga has led the Hawks to three straight wins. In his debut Kumiga scored a season-high 27 points on 9 of 12 shooting, while pulling down seven rebounds.

In his second game, he poured in 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Then yesterday he had 20 points and seven boards.

Totals to date: three games, three wins, averages of 21.3 points and 7.7 rebounds, shooting  percentage of 68% from the field (21 of 31).

This one is a real failure for Steve Kerr and company.