In what has emerged as a growing trend across professional sports matches in Canada, NBA fans at the Toronto Raptors basketball game on Sunday booed the United States national anthem.
Fans of the NBA's only Canadian franchise initially cheered as the 15-year-old singer began belting the "Star Spangled Banner," but by the end, the lauds were overcome by boos, according to The Associated Press.
It followed a similar trend seen and heard a night earlier at NHL hockey games in Ottawa, Ontario and Calgary, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on America's largest trade partner.
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Toronto forward Chris Boucher, who is also a Canadian citizen, was asked after the Raptors win over the Los Angeles Clippers if he'd ever experienced anything like it.
"No, no, no," Boucher said, according to The Associated Press. "But have you ever seen us getting taxed like that?"
While booing a country's national anthem is rare, it's not unheard of — especially when tied to world events. In the early 2000s, fans at Agmes in Canada booed in a signal of disapproval of the U.S. war in Iraq.
