In a move that is rare in an era when athletes put making money ahead of making waves, The Phoenix Suns will be making a political statement on Cinco de Mayo. For game 2 of their semifinal series against The San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, the Phoenix Suns will be wearing jerseys emblazoned with "Los Suns" in protest of the new AZ Immigration Law. The Suns took it to a vote and unanimously decided to wear the jerseys. Phoenix Suns' point guard and 2-time MVP Steve Nash said the following about the decision:"I think it's fantastic," Nash said after Tuesday's practice. "I think the law is very misguided. I think it's, unfortunately, to the detriment of our society and our civil liberties. I think it's very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. As a team and as an organization, we have a lot of love and support for all of our fans. The league is very multicultural. We have players from all over the world, and our Latino community here is very strong and important to us."
Although it may not seem like much, I think it's a big deal for The Phoenix Suns to take a public stand on such a controversial issue.
If you'd like to read more on the story, click here.
15 comments:
I just became a Spurs fan.
This is how change happens. Very proud of The Spurs. A great way to draw attention to the issue. Slowly but surely, we will chip away at the hate...
Good for the Phoenix Suns!! I'm glad they came to this decision unanimously. It may seem like a small gesture but for the entire team t agree and the franchise to allow is making a huge statement.
Trestin: In case you didn't read the article I linked to in this post, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is on board with what the Suns are doing. In fact, the team even tried to get their "Los Spurs" jerseys, though it was too late to do so.
Teresa: The Suns will likely take some heat, even from their fans. However, I think it was a good and brave move.
Regina: I too was surprised by the unanimous decision. I don't know if you read the Yahoo story I linked to, but some of the comments there are pretty interesting.
Not really related to this story directly, but I remember in 05 and 06 when many thought sportswriters and broadcasters were racists for voting Steve Nash to back-to-back MVP trophies.
And when Dirk won the following year... fuggedaboutit. It took Kobe winning in 07 to put it to bed.
So, I guess, those old white men changed their ways in 1 season. Wow.
On a related note, I do wonder how many members of the Suns' organization have read the bill. I'm just curious.
Since I'm also against the law, I don't see anything "wrong" with the Suns standing collectively. But I am a little concerned that some might be taking a stance on a sensationalist, hypothetical portrayal of the law. Zee paperz, zee paperz.
Didn't we go through this recently with "death panels" and poor grandma?
In terms of sensationalism, it shouldn't matter more that the hypothetical victim is a minority. That's not "equality" at all. :P
That's to bad, it's a very good law. I wish every state would d o it.
I am right there with everyone else..good job on passing this law...i think more states should do it too!!!
I think it is great that you made a stand. I have not read a lot on this law but we have talked about it in our American Government class. What I understand is that many families are broken because of this new law. I think it is wrong to break up families. I wish people could just be treated as equals in this world, and the hate through stereotypes and prejudices would not exist. Wow, how much more peaceful this world could be. Great job....Love the jerey's.
Josh: Although Steve Nash was a worthy MVP in 2005, giving him the award 2 years in a row was a bit excessive to me. I thought Dirk winning it at all was a joke, esp. when one considers that neither Kobe nor LeBron had ever won at that point.
As for the Suns who read the bill, Grant Hill said he didn't know much about it. My guess is that some in the Suns organization did read it and those such as Hill put their trust in them and agreed to the "Los Suns" jerseys as a show of solidarity.
Trestin: My hope is that the federal government tackles this problem so other states won't have to follow AZ's lead.
Anon: Thanks for stopping by. Please see my reply to Trestin directly about this one.
Christa: Thanks for visiting. I think it's great that your American Government class is talking about this timely and important topic.
Excessive isn't racist. Those were the cries.
When you're dealing with sportswriters and broadcasters voting instead of other NBA players, it's a different criteria used than what the average fan appreciates.
Nash's 2 wins and Dirk's follow-up win and the ensuing fallout has seemingly changed the scale.
Not that Kobe and LeBron are in any way undeserving, but the MVP (Most Valuable Player) isn't the LBS (League's Biggest Superstar) and hasn't been since the writing/broadcasting community took it over in 80. A possible exception being Jordan, but that's Michael F'n Jordan - ring machine and Bball ubergod.
The Nash/Nowitzki fallout has undoubtedly crept into the minds of people and they're now not even entertaining possibilities for a first place vote besides mega popular superstars.
Now, I'm not entirely sure if they canned MVP voters or if they're just shook to the point of populus agreement, but it's clear that calling people racists had an effect.
Josh: When I used the term "excessive", I meant just that. I know that some were saying it was racist that Steve and Dirk won, but I wasn't one of them. Having said that, I feel that Kobe and LeBron should have won MVP awards before Steve and Dirk. Sometimes MVP and LBS are one in the same.
Maybe Kobe before Dirk. But you don't necessarily "deserve" the MVP.
At least you didn't use to deserve it.
LeBron winning gets no complaints from me. I think he's certainly one of the top-five players in the NBA.
The point I was making was that, when Nash and Dirk were winning the awards, and before them, the criteria was different. Durant would have won over LeBron if they didn't suddenly switch up how they did things.
Now it's gone exclusively to the most popular NBA player for three years.
Granted, three years isn't a long enough span to make a scale - but it has changed. Whether it stays like this will tell the tale.
And there's no good reason that they would have suddenly switched unlessed pressured from some angle. The "racism" angle could certainly be one of them. ... I didn't mean to imply YOU were calling it racist - just that "racism" was the popular cry.
I actually agree that Nash winning two in a row was a bit excessive. But I know that his game is what those voters used to like until recently.
Personally, being a huge NBA fan, I don't want it to become the Mr. Popular award.
Josh: Whether or not the NBA MVP award has turned/is turning into a Mr. Popular award is debatable. However, it's a debate for another day and another post. :-)
By the way, thank you for clarifying what you meant in regards to the excessive vs. racist angle.
That was a very positive gesture by the Phoenix Suns ... er ... Los Suns. As Teresa said, change has to start somewhere.
Hopefully Major League Baseball will step up and impress upon Arizona how negative misguided this law is for people from all walks of life and all shades of skin color.
Sandy: If MLB hasn't already been in touch with Arizona, they better get on it. The 2011 All-Star Game will be here before we know it.
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