National Basketball Association

Sixers issue statement apologizing to Sevyn Streeter for national anthem decision

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:50 p.m. ET

Brett Pollakoff

The Philadelphia 76ers didn't allow Sevyn Streeter to perform the national anthem on opening night as scheduled because she was wearing a “We Matter” jersey. Instead of avoiding controversy altogether, the organization created more than it imagined by making this decision, and issued a statement on Friday recognizing its mistake.

“We are sorry that this happened. After receiving feedback from our players, basketball operations staff and ownership group, we believe that the wrong decision was made, and Sevyn should have been welcomed to sing. We apologize to her, and in an effort to move the conversation forward, we have reached out to offer her an opportunity to return and perform at a game of her choice. We are waiting to hear back.”

The organization held a lengthy meeting with its players on Thursday to discuss the incident.

"We understand the situation and we respect the social issue involved," head coach Brett Brown told reporters. "We completely get it. As a group, we will try to find a way to deal with this."

Was suppose to sing the anthem at @sixers & @okcthunder game but mins b4 @sixers said I couldn't because I was wearing a "We Matter" jersey pic.twitter.com/wjoJN3rq0r
— Sevyn (@sevyn) October 27, 2016