Celtics link arms in show of unity during national anthem

The Boston Celtics linked arms in a show of unity before Tuesday's preseason tilt against the Philadelphia 76ers while "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung.

Shortly after their demonstration, the Celtics shared a video message promoting a message of unity on Twitter.

"We’ve had a lot of sit-down discussions about it," Brad Stevens said before the game. "We’ve had a lot of individual discussions. We’ve had three or four meetings with the team after practices; sometimes just the players, sometimes just us, sometimes people that we’ve invited in from the outside to spend time with our guys. Our guys have been incredibly thoughtful."

The Celtics drew their inspiration from the 1960-61 squad that linked arms in a similar show of unity during a time of escalating racial tensions.