It didn’t take President Donald Trump long to direct his national anthem outrage from LeBron James to the WNBA following Game 3 of the Finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries.

Trump, 80, burst into a fit of rage at NBA and Philadelphia 76ers superstar LeBron James earlier this week, branding the future Basketball Hall of Famer a “TOTAL DISGRACE,” while accusing him of disrespecting the national anthem.

Ahead of his 76ers debut against defending champions, the New York Knicks on Tuesday, James appeared to be going through his warm-ups, including a golf swing, while the national anthem was being sung inside Madison Square Garden. James’ behavior at the national anthem preceded his heated exchange with a fan.

The President called on James to apologize “to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag,” in a furious Truth Social post. However, Trump’s attention on basketball didn’t end with James on Thursday.

He then directed his fury toward the WNBA, where Dream and Valkyries stars have been routinely leaving the court for the national anthem.

Neither the Dream nor the Valkyries has publicly offered a detailed explanation linking their pregame routines to a political or social message, although the latter stressed that the gesture was nothing out of the ordinary.

Still, Trump singled out the players while speaking at a midterm election campaign rally in Iowa. He then warned that the league will “destroy” itself over such instances. “What’s going on with the women’s NBA? What’s that all about?” Trump said.

“They’ll destroy themselves before they get started because they just started to do good… It’s a big deal going on! They leave the court when the national anthem is played. What’s that all about?

“The NFL did that for a while, and they stopped because people stopped watching the games. So I think you should do the same thing with women’s basketball unless they get there.”

Valkyries guard Veronica Burton explained before Game 2 that leaving the court for the national anthem has been a regular routine for the team, and denied any political meaning behind the gesture.

“We’ve been doing that,” Burton told reporters. “That’s just our pregame routine. We’ve been doing that since last year.”

“No,” she bluntly replied when asked if there was a particular message they were trying to get across. Basketball hasn’t, and won’t be, the only sport Trump torches over the national anthem, or any negativity aimed toward the United States.

Trump has a long history of clashing with athletes and teams over perceived disrespect towards the US flag and national anthem. In 2017, he called for NFL players who knelt during the anthem to be fired, declaring that owners should get “that son of a b—— off the field right now” if they disrespected the flag.

He later withdrew an invitation for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors to visit the White House after Stephen Curry expressed reluctance to attend. In 2018, Trump also canceled a planned White House celebration for the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles amid a dispute over attendance and the national anthem, further escalating his feud with professional athletes.

As for the WNBA, all focus remains on their potential best-of-seven Finals series, with the Dream leading the Valkyries 2-1 after three games. The Dream needs two more wins to be crowned WNBA champions.

Game 4 is slated for Saturday inside Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, which is also the home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.