An ESPN writer called NBA Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, a “poor white man from a forgotten Deep South town,” after the Celtics legend was spotted at a Trump rally in Minnesota Wednesday night.

The rally, held in Duluth, Minnesota, drew a large crowd. Among those in the crowd, was NBA champion Kevin McHale, whose wife is a supporter of the president’s.

Pictures of McHale soon began appearing on social media:

Is this Kevin McHale at the Trump rally? ⁦@RandBallsStu⁩ pic.twitter.com/jPZQGhiEE0 — PK (@peekay622) June 21, 2018

Not all were happy to see McHale at the event:

And some, were outright spiteful and angered by McHale’s presence. On Thursday morning, ESPN writer Howard Bryant tweeted:

https://twitter.com/hbryant42/status/1009785638294450176

Bryant, who also appears on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, has been a vocal critic of President Trump and supporter of anthem protester Colin Kaepernick.

A little over a week ago, Bryant said that Trump was dragging athletes into a culture war.

Bryant said:

We’re in the middle of a culture war, and we can see that the president sees this as not only something that he can capitalize off of politically, but also something that the players now have to make a decision on, in that is the White House visit respect for the office or a repudiation of him?And I think that what we saw with the Eagles—they did not see it as you just kinda go even if you don’t like the guy in office because you have so much respect for the office and who gets to go to the White House in our lifetime. I think they really viewed this as no, it’s a direct repudiation of you, we’re not going. Not because we disagree with your foreign policy, but because we disagree with you period.

Just this week, Bryant penned a “memo to white America,” in the Guardian. In which he tried to tell “white america” that the NFL anthem protests are meant to oppose police brutality, not the flag.

Bryant deleted his tweet regarding McHale within hours of posting it.

Breitbart Sports has reached out to ESPN for comment regarding Bryant’s remarks.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn