Dallas Mavericks owner and water carrier for the Chinese Communist Party, Mark Cuban, has come up with what I'm sure he thinks is a clever way to avoid the National Anthem kneeling controversy.

He just won't play the National Anthem at games at all.

Seriously. That's the solution.

There was no formal announcement made. The Mavericks just stopped playing the song. Fans noticed and Cuban was asked about whether that was a new team policy. He confirmed that he had made that decision himself.

In a move that's certain to go over well in... let me see here... DALLAS TEXAS, Cuban has decided it just isn't worth the trouble of playing the National Anthem if it brings any kind of negative attention to his team.

Last summer, Cuban stated his support for his team kneeling during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner. And he did so in a typical Mark Cuban, "I'm gonna be a jerk about this" manner, as reported by the New York Post:

The outspoken Mavericks owner told ESPN last July of the potential for his team's players to kneel during the anthem: "If they were taking a knee, and they were being respectful, I'd be proud of them" and that he hoped he would "join them." He later tweeted, in response to what he called "The National Anthem Police," that if critics of the nonviolent protest of systemic racism in the United States took issue, then they could "complain to your boss and ask why they don't play the National Anthem every day before you start work."

I guess Cuban gave this sentiment some more thought. Seems like he has never considered that maybe there's a reason that the National Anthem is played before sporting events. It used to be a uniting thing. It was a way to remember that, in the end, we're all on the same team. It was a way to show patriotism and honor your fellow countryman. To remember those who fought and died for their country.

Don't you want that, Mark?

This is a cowardly move, and I doubt it will go over well in the great state of Texas. They don't take too kindly to cowards.