US President Donald Trump has criticised NBA superstar LeBron James over what he described as disrespectful behaviour during the playing of the American national anthem.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social network, shared a video of the basketball legend performing apparent warm-up movements while standing alongside his Philadelphia 76ers teammates before their season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

“While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE,” Trump wrote.

“LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!” he added.

The video shared by Trump carried an internal caption that read, “LeBron working on his golf swing pregame.” It showed James making lateral swing motions and basketball shooting movements.

Trump renewed his criticism at a campaign rally in Iowa on Thursday night, describing James’s actions as “a big scandal kind of a story”.

However, James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, appeared unfazed by the president’s comments, dismissing them as a distraction.

“It must be a slow news day at the office,” he said after the Sixers completed an impressive comeback to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 in Philadelphia.

James, 41, is entering his record-extending 24th NBA season with his fourth team.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse described Trump’s comments as the kind of distractions he was teaching his players to ignore.

“I think that goes right in with other outside noise we’ve already had,” Nurse said.

“I keep saying the same thing. All I really care about is getting to the practice floor, getting them in the film room, getting them to the game floor.

“The focus that they’ve had and the intent and all the stuff like that has been outstanding,” he added.

Trump has previously criticised athletes, particularly Black athletes, over their conduct during the playing of the US national anthem before sporting events.

During his first term in office, he singled out NFL star Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the “Star-Spangled Banner” to protest racial injustice and police brutality.