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.

Link to story

[edit on 7-5-2010 by -Blackout-]

I don't think teams should get involved in the political stuff. And I think this one's still kind of coming out to balance as to how it's going to be favorably looked upon by our public



[edit on 7-5-2010 by -Blackout-]

Jerry Colangelo had more class.

Not to be a grammar nazi, but shouldn't it say "Los sols"?

reply to post by Cale, Logan


Americans will think that the team they're rooting for are Lost Souls

reply to post by -Blackout-


Umm are they retarded? I'm not quite fluent in Spanish, but I'm pretty sure it would be "Los Sols" Not "Los Suns" .. Sun isn't a Spanish word.

Other than the retardeness, I don't really care. There is a team in Boston with my heritage all over it.. clover, demon, and the name Celtics (PRONOUNCED KELTIC .. hard C people. Every time I hear it, I want to kick the announcer for being an idiot.) And Leprechauns are demons.

So no, I don't care if they want to be the Spanish "The's" and the the English "Suns". .. Americans. We are a funny race.

How misguided! The new law is not racist, and it doesn't harm the Latino community. The thing it harms, is the ILLEGAL ALIEN community. Why on earth would we have borders and a constitution if we're just going to ignore both?

I understand that this country is founded on natural law. But I find it disgusting that people use that as an argument to support the welfare of illegal immigrants, when in the very same breath attack Americans for standing up for what little they have left of their country.

We have borders. Enforce them or stop calling ourselves a sovereign nation.

It should be Las Suns. (Or Sols as Rock points out).

They are feminine.

Go Trailblazers!

[edit on 7-5-2010 by muzzleflash]

[edit on 7-5-2010 by muzzleflash]

WTF?
How many Mexicans are in the NBA? I could see this in maybe professional wrestling...BUT THE NBA? What about all the people of African descent? Do we honor them by renaming the Nuggets some kind've Zulu dialect?
I sincerely hope this doesn't spill over into MLB.

I was soo pissed off when I recieved political commentary during my sports. When I watch sports, it is to get away from all of the BS of politics and enjoy myself for a little bit, but NO, I have to listen to Chales Barkley's take on immigration reform. That's like asking Kermit the frog an astro-physics question.

But I must admit it did provide me extreme humor that most people missed. When Chris Webber was weighing in he refered to John McCain as John McClain!!!!

Webber thinks Die Hard ran for office!!! John McClane

John McClane is a fictional character and the protagonist in the Die Hard series of films. He is portrayed by actor Bruce Willis. He is described as being a foul-mouthed, wisecracking, no-nonsense New York cop with an itchy trigger finger, an aversion to Eurotrash terrorists, and a never-say-die spir

-E-

GO SPURS GO!!!!!! Gotta get a win tonight!

Mixing sports and politics is very common.

It allows the politicians to have violence at sporting events and use the violence to grab power and money and control. It was done in ancient times and it is done now...just not here in America.

They very last thing a sports team or athlete should do is let themselves become political tools.

They are fools.

Arizona's in the spotlight and there is an awful lot of talk about boycotts over a very divisive issue. The Suns are a business. They seem to think this is a good publicity or solidarity thing. I'm not so sure. They'll likely alienate as many people as they don't. It dangerous for any public entity, especially in the sports or entertainment field, to go political. People generally go to ballgames and movies and shows in part to get away from that stuff.

I think it's a mistake. Keep it off the court, and the stage, unless your audience is knowingly in advance buying into what they know they're going to get.

One more reason not to watch Basketball. If they come back in the fall as Los Cardenales I'll stop watching football too.

reply to post by Son of Will

How misguided! The new law is not racist, and it doesn't harm the Latino community. The thing it harms, is the ILLEGAL ALIEN community. Why on earth would we have borders and a constitution if we're just going to ignore both?

Oh the gullibility!

Is it willful or innocent?

Saying this isn't targeted at the Latino community is like saying OJ didn't kill his wife because a jury of his peers said he was innocent.

reply to post by Snarf


He didn't say it wasn't targeted at the Latino community, did he? Don't set up a straw man to make a claim of gullibility. It looks to me like you're presuming a whole lot of us are gullible, if you expect anyone to buy into that accusation.

The topic is the appropriateness of a sports franchise making this move.

Originally posted by Snarf
reply to post by Son of Will

 

Saying this isn't targeted at the Latino community is like saying OJ didn't kill his wife because a jury of his peers said he was innocent.

I thought this was targeting the illegal community

-E-

Originally posted by MysterE
I thought this was targeting the illegal community

-E-

Well yeah, but to create a more emotional response you have to add the racial tagline. This will hopefully create an association that the law is against said race, and not against a criminal.

reply to post by -Blackout-


Ok so all I can say about this is that it shows how out of touch the rich are when it comes to stuff like this. Most people don't pay attention to what is actually happening, and the rich are way out of touch with the common person in America.

Maybe they should move the team across the boarder so the drug cartels can throw them in vats of acid, or cut them up into small pieces unless they give them all there money. Bunch of idiots

I respected Steve Kerr for his days on the bulls. This buffoon has lost all his marbles and his team has lost respect my too. These guys probably never read the LAW or even cared to look that this was already on the federal books.

These guys want to go spewing partisan >SNIP< none of which is based on a grain of truth, when majority of the US supports Arizona.

Mod Edit: Please don't evade the censors

[edit on 5/7/2010 by yeahright]

Yeah, i think it was bad form on their part also. Pro sports teams need to stay out of this kind of thing. All they are trying to do is win over more fans.....kind of like how certain pro sports play over seas etc.......