The 11-year-old boy who was the subject of several racist insults on Twitter earlier this week took center stage once again at the NBA Finals on Thursday night for an encore peformance of the national anthem.
After performing the Star-Spangled Banner at game three of the NBA Finals on Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas, Sebastien De La Cruz drew racist insults from a number of Twitter users, many of whom suggested that he isn’t American. De La Cruz was actually born in San Antonio.
Undeterred, De La Cruz was invited back for an encore performance between game four between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat. Once again donning a mariachi outfit, the rising sixth grader was introduced by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and received a huge ovation from the crowd at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
After finishing the performance, De La Cruz was greeted at half court by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Prior to the game, Popovich blasted the Twitter users who had mocked the boy.
