Jason Brock waved a rainbow Pride flag as he sang the national anthem at the Golden State Warriors’ Pride Night on Thursday, Nov. 5, and now he’s answering the clip of De’Anthony Melton and Charles Bassey appearing to laugh.
“Wow I didn’t interpret it like this, but I wasn’t watching the players,” Brock wrote on X, the California Post reported. “Just because they were laughing doesn’t mean it was because of the anthem.”
The broadcast panned to several Warriors players mid-song, and one X post of it topped 4 million views in about 13 hours, the Post reported. Brock also put a graphic titled “Warriors couldn’t keep a straight face during the national anthem” on his Instagram story and wrote, “Really?”
Stephen Curry scored 29 as Golden State beat the Miami Heat 120-100 in San Francisco for its sixth straight win, The Associated Press reported. The team’s November fan guide had promised this: “Celebrate Pride Night at Chase Center as all fans in attendance will receive a Pride Fan, presented by Accenture.”
‘It Was Pride Night AND We Won,’ Says Jason Brock
“This is me singing,” Brock wrote in another X post, The Shadow League reported. “Wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction, but it was Pride night AND we won.”
No public comment from Melton (5 points, 6 rebounds) or Bassey (8 points, 7 rebounds) had surfaced by Friday evening.
Comedian Danny Polischuk took the election angle, posting, “Republicans lost so bad there’s a gay national anthem now,” The Comeback noted.
Conservative outlets from Breitbart to Fox News’ OutKick covered the clip, and OutKick’s headline called Brock disrespectful, which is clearly an incorrect assertion.
Who Sang the Anthem at the Warriors Game? Jason Brock
“I did it for the gays… and Japan,” Brock said as he left “The X Factor” in 2012, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He’d drawn the fewest viewer votes after the judges deadlocked on his elimination, the outlet reported.
“I think that being gay is a wild card in itself,” he told reporters backstage that night.
He also said, “I just wanted to make a statement and make sure that gay people got attention.”
“My boyfriend lives in Japan and he’s Japanese,” Brock explained.
These days he regularly sings the anthem at San Francisco Giants games during baseball season, The Shadow League reported, citing a bio on his website. His “Really?” on Instagram came with a Japanese version, too, the California Post noted.
Back in 2012, he said he hoped to work in Japan someday, THR reported. “Please give me a job, Japan,” he said.
Jarron Collins Honors Twin Brother Jason at Warriors Pride Night
Golden State also honored Jason Collins on Pride Night, the AP reported, and his twin, Jarron, was at the game.
“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” Jason Collins wrote in Sports Illustrated in April 2013, as KQED reported that day.
He went on to play for the Brooklyn Nets as the NBA’s first openly gay active player, ESPN reported when he died.
“Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar,” his family said in May, when it announced his death from glioblastoma at 47.
Before tipoff, Jarron, a Warriors assistant coach from 2014 to 2021, went on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Warriors Pregame Live” to talk about his brother’s impact on the NBA.
“I miss my brother,” Jarron said in July, accepting Jason’s Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYS, theGrio reported.
A month earlier, the Boston Red Sox had him throw out the first pitch at their Pride Night at Fenway Park, ClutchPoints reported.
“He lived his life with authenticity, with grace, and strength and joy,” Jarron said at the ESPYS, where he also thanked Jason’s husband, film producer Brunson Green.
Rick Welts, who came out publicly in 2011, ran Golden State’s business side from 2011 to 2021.
“The courage he showed and the way he moved in this world truly made him a trailblazer,” Jarron told the ESPYS crowd.
