Posted: 5/5/2010 4:48:27 AM EDT
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Why couldn't they keep their political opinions to themselves? I could care less if we win now.
Suns to wear 'Los Suns' uniforms to honor Phoenix's Latino community In general, people in the sports world keep their political leanings to themselves. Sure, there are a few guys who regularly speak out on political issues, but for the most part that's considered bad business. As Michael Jordan put it, "Republicans buy shoes too." That's why what the Phoenix Suns are doing is so amazing. The team will be wearing its "Los Suns" jerseys for Wednesday night's Game 2 against the San Antonio Spurs "to honor [the] Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation." Awesome. The decision to wear the jerseys came from way up the corporate ladder, as team owner Robert Sarver suggested the team wear their Noche Latina alternates. Sarver, who was born and raised in Tucson, said frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue led to the passage of what he called "a flawed state law." "However intended, the result of passing the law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question," he said, "and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them." The Suns voted on the jerseys and unanimously decided to wear them for Cinco De Mayo. As if he weren't likeable enough, Phoenix guard Steve Nash(notes) succinctly summed up the Suns' feelings on the issue. "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." And it's not just the Suns who are speaking out on this issue. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is on board, and the team even tried to get their "Los Spurs" jerseys, though it was too late to do so. When asked for approval to wear the jerseys, the NBA "was all for it," said Suns general manager Steve Kerr. Furthermore, NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter issued a press release, denouncing the law. The recent passage of the new immigration law in Arizona is disappointing and disturbing. The National Basketball Players Association strongly supports the repeal or immediate modification of this legislation. Any attempt to encourage, tolerate or legalize racial profiling is offensive and incompatible with basic notions of fairness and equal protection. A law that unfairly targets one group is ultimately a threat to all. We applaud the actions of Phoenix Suns players and management and join them in taking a stand against the misguided efforts of Arizona lawmakers. We are consulting with our members and our player leadership to determine the most effective way for our union to continue to voice our opposition to this legislation. It's not much, just an extra three letters on the front of a tanktop, but it means a lot more. As Kerr said, the Suns want to "make sure that people understand that we know what's going on and we don't agree with the law itself." For a sports team, that's huge. |
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Bad decision on the owners, but clearly a business decision rather than an actual political one to make sure the suns swag is not boycotted.
As I have said numerous times before, the sooner we stop caring about the political views of celebrities, the better off we will be. |
| I’m so glad I have all these famous people around to guide me though life. One tells me how many sheets of toilet paper I should use and another tells me not to use meds and so on. Now the Suns tell me that a soon to be law that I support is wrong. Just because someone is in the public eye doesn’t mean they know shit. Act, dance, sing, tell jokes or play ball but don’t use your position to push your views. Just because I pay $8.00 to see you in a movie it don’t mean I care what you think. |
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I’m so glad I have all these famous people around to guide me though life. One tells me how many sheets of toilet paper I should use and another tells me not to use meds and so on. Now the Suns tell me that a soon to be law that I support is wrong. Just because someone is in the public eye doesn’t mean they know shit. Act, dance, sing, tell, jokes or play ball but don’t use your position to push your views. Just because I pay $8.00 to see you in a movie it don’t mean I care what you think. Exactly! |
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IMHO...this is a "no win" More than 70 percent of the Suns potential fan base support the new law...genius move! 
No Suns games for me...FTL  That's what I was thinking. Also, all of those boycotts are being blown out of proportion considering that there are probably just as many people buying more AZ stuff because of 1070 as there are people boycotting AZ products. What sucks though is that I really used to like Steve Nash 
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This is done like one or two times a year. Nothing new. Most all teams do this. I know its gay, but its done every year. Really, first time I've ever seen this crap. I'd say it't plenty new, and the rub of it is that they are celebrating another countries independence day (if they give the excuse is ain't about AZ laws). Let's see what uniform they don for America's independence day, as if they ever did. |
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Fuck the Suns and Nash and Sarver ,I hope they lose every game from here on .  It pisses me off, but at least Nash has a dog in the fight, being a legal immigrant. This law could actually affect him. I was under the impression that legal immigrants had to have their "papers" proving citizenship on them at all times anyway. |
| There had to have been at least one player who supports the law and was forced to wear the jersey. If the polls are correct, half of the team supports the law. If those players spoke out, imagine the crap they would have face. The owners put the players in a bad situation. Now we think that all of them are pro illegal. |
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Why can't they just play the game? I don't understand how the NBA allowed this. If a team wanted to wear something to show their protest against health care, I'm sure it would not have been allowed. ...furthermore, NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter issued a press release, denouncing the law. The recent passage of the new immigration law in Arizona is disappointing and disturbing. The National Basketball Players Association strongly supports the repeal or immediate modification of this legislation. Any attempt to encourage, tolerate or legalize racial profiling is offensive and incompatible with basic notions of fairness and equal protection. A law that unfairly targets one group is ultimately a threat to all. We applaud the actions of Phoenix Suns players and management and join them in taking a stand against the misguided efforts of Arizona lawmakers. We are consulting with our members and our player leadership to determine the most effective way for our union to continue to voice our opposition to this legislation. While that doesn't sound like the NBA itself, it show a strong following by most of the NBA. 
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Fuck the Suns and Nash and Sarver ,I hope they lose every game from here on . It pisses me off, but at least Nash has a dog in the fight, being a legal immigrant. This law could actually affect him. I was under the impression that legal immigrants had to have their "papers" proving citizenship on them at all times anyway. He does. I think he's an idiot, but my point was at least he's a person the law actually could conceivably affect. Of course since he's required to have his docs on him at all times under Federal law, he's a moron for having a problem with the AZ law. |
| Been to one BB game in my entire life Suns 1995, 1 football game & a bunch of baseball games, I don't watch sports on TV anymore. I didn't care what Suns though 2 years ago & I don't give a damn what they think now as far as I concerned they go straight to HELL. Vote with your wallet, let their ticket sales and merchandise suffer. |
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This is done like one or two times a year. Nothing new. Most all teams do this. I know its gay, but its done every year. That may be true, but the rant by the owner against the Arizona Immigration Enforcement Legislation was ad lib. If that doesn't sound the alarm bells for "sports fans" then nothing will. Keep paying those high ticket prices to see a bunch of grotesqley tall men running up and down a wood floor chasing a big ball, knowing full well that some of that money is going towards organizations that want to destroy your nation's sovereignty. |
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This is done like one or two times a year. Nothing new. Most all teams do this. I know its gay, but its done every year. Really, first time I've ever seen this crap. I'd say it't plenty new, and the rub of it is that they are celebrating another countries independence day (if they give the excuse is ain't about AZ laws). Let's see what uniform they don for America's independence day, as if they ever did. They wore these things last year, it's not a response to SB1070...... I don't recall if they wore them in '08 or before. I remember wondering WTF when I saw them in '09... |