Knicks, Rockets and More NBA Teams Display Unity During National Anthem

Players from the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets stood with their arms around each other in a show of unity during the national anthem before their preseason game at the Toyota Center on Tuesday night.

SportsCenter relayed a photo of the moment:

The Boston Celtics also locked hands before their exhibition game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and players explained the gesture in a video released by the team on Twitter:

Marc D'Amico of the Celtics' website captured a photo of the team during "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the University of Massachusetts' William D. Mullins Memorial Center:

The Washington Wizards followed suit as well, according to freelance journalist Ben Standig:

The demonstrations by the Knicks, Rockets, Celtics and Wizards came on the heels of a similar display of unity by the Toronto Raptors during their preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday night.

"I think it's important to speak out because we're human," Warriors forward Draymond Green said during the team's media day, according to ESPN.com's Ethan Sherwood Strauss. "There are a lot of changes that need to be made. It's not just the killing of black people—that's obviously rough and crazy to me—there are a lot of changes that need to be made in this country."

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony has been among a handful of prominent NBA players to speak out against social and racial injustice in America.

"The system is broken, the problems are not new, the violence is not new and the racial divide definitely is not new, but the urgency for change is definitely at an all-time high," he said during a speech with LeBron James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade at the ESPYs in July, according to ESPN.com.

Anthony has been lauded for taking on a leadership role in speaking up about such issues. Per B/R's Lars Anderson, Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving said:

"

Carmelo taught us all this summer what it means to use your position to influence the world. He taught us that we need to stand up for what we believe in and that athletes need to get involved in the social issues that are affecting us all. I don't think you can overstate the impact that Carmelo's had on athletes in all sports.

"