Sebastien De La Cruz, the 11-year-old singer who was subjected to racist criticism after game 3 of the NBA Finals , will return to the court in San Antonio to sing the Star Spangled Banner before game 4.
De La Cruz, who was introduced as the “boy with the golden voice,” was wearing a traditional mariachi outfit when he grabbed the microphone on Tuesday night. After his performance, several people took to Twitter to launch racist insults at the 11-year-old singer.
One user wrote : “Can’t believe they had the nerve to have a beaner singing the national anthem of America #smh.”
Another added: “There’s a little Mexican kid singing the national anthem… What has the world come to?”
De La Cruz wasn’t bothered by the comments, however, and he’s ready to take the stage again tonight.
The 11-year-old singer said : “It’s off my shoulders… I just want to thank everybody for their support… My father and my mother told me that you should never judge people by how they look. You should judge them on the inside. And the saying that I go by is never judge a book by its cover.”
Here’s a video of Sebastien De La Cruz singing the National Anthem.
De La Cruz didn’t score any points for the Spurs, he left that to Danny Green and Gary Neal, but the 11-year-old singer could be San Antonio’s good luck charm. The Spurs beat the Heat on Tuesday night by more than 30 points and they are hoping to take another step closer to an NBA Championship tonight.
