Sports's latest overlap with politics demonstrates it isn't the unifying force we're told it is

If you watched Monday night’s NBA Finals game between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, then followed up afterward on social media, you probably noticed a discrepancy in the volume of crowd’s reaction to seeing U.S. president Donald Trump on the big screen at Madison Square Garden.

On Instagram, you heard arena-shaking jeers as the camera cut to Trump during the national anthem, overlooking the court from his spot in a luxury box, right hand at his temple in a military salute. But on the TV broadcast you heard only muted boos. Comparing those sounds to the raw social media audio, maybe you thought you had uncovered a conspiracy, with ESPN’s broadcast team working to make the least-popular president in modern history seem a touch less unpopular.

But it’s also possible that the broadcast truck opted to lower the background noise to keep the focus on all-world R&B tenor Avery Wilson, who was midway through the most electric rendition of the Star Spangled Banner we’ve heard in decades. If you haven’t heard it, go back and listen, then venture down the Avery Wilson rabbit hole. Pound-for-pound, a top-5 singer on the planet, and it’s a shame the Trump controversy siphoned attention from his performance.

Still, the capacity crowd’s overwhelmingly negative reaction to 10 seconds of Donald Trump gives us useful information.

The president’s unpopularity isn’t just a columnist’s opinion. Poll numbers bear it out weekly. Criticism abounds, and attending a sports event is a chance to shield himself from it.

Except the list of safe spaces keeps shrinking. Trump has been booed everywhere from the U.S. Open tennis tournament to a Washington Commanders home game. He should receive a huge ovation at the UFC Freedom 250 event this