Dallas Mavericks’ Mark Cuban spars with Sen. Ted Cruz over kneeling during the national anthem

DALLAS, Texas – Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban pushed back against both Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and a radio show host after he said he would support his franchise’s plans to kneel during the national anthem this season.

The entrepreneur and billionaire clapped back at radio host Mark Davis, who tweeted his opposing stance on players kneeling during the anthem.

“[T]he minute one player kneels during the anthem, I am out,” he tweeted, “Surely [Cuban] can lead the way for [Dallas Mavericks and the NBA] to do whatever gesture they wish without insulting the nation.”

Cuban quote-tweeted with a simple “Bye.”

He later retweeted Davis’ tweet that the “National Anthem Police is out of control.”

“If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they don’t play the National Anthem every day before you start work.” Cuban said.

Cruz joined in the Twitter battle Monday when he retweeted Cuban’s one-word response to Davis with his own quote-tweet.

“Really??!? NBA is telling everyone who stands for the flag, who honors our cops and our veterans, to ‘piss off’?” Cruz wrote. “In Texas, no less? Good luck with that.”

Cuban clapped back once more by saying “Speak to me, it’s tweet,” while several conservative groups on Twitter have called for a boycott of Cuban’s companies.

The billionaire has previously shown support for kneeling during the anthem, according to an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines in June. He said that if players kneel, he would join them.

“I will stand in unison with all the players, no matter what they do,” Cuban said.