Suns to protest Arizona immigration law

Is it in the best tradition of Free Speech, or the worst tradition of marketing and pandering? The Phoenix Suns have decided to wear their "Los Suns" game jerseys during their nationally-televised semifinal game to protest Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigrants. The action is proceeding with the approval of both the NBA and the players union.

Robert Sarver decided - with unanimous support from his players - that the Suns would wear their "Los Suns" jerseys for Game 2 tonight on Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday.

The gesture, which came with the blessing of the NBA and the league's players union, reflects Sarver's belief that passing Senate Bill 1070 was not "the right way to handle the immigration problem, Number 1," he said. "Number 2, as I read through the bill, it felt to me a little bit like it was mean-spirited, and I personally just don't agree with it."

Arizona sports teams and events have become targets for protests and calls for boycotts since SB 1070 was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer on April 23.

The law makes it a state crime to be in Arizona without proper documents and requires local police to check the legal status of suspected undocumented immigrants.

Government May Seize Pro Basketball Teams Uniforms and Plane

Greek pro basketball team Olympiakos is scheduled to play the Cavs in an exhibition game soon. But the team may not get their opportunity to play against Lebron and crew. Olympiakos has 2 civil judgments against them by American players who used to play for them. Olympiakos never paid the money that was awarded in the judgments so they still owe the former players. This could lead to the government seizing the team's property when the enter the country. This could include team uniforms and even the private plane itself.

How are statisticians changing sports?

I am not a big sports guys, but this is where science and sports meet. Stats have always been a huge part of baseball, but other sports have not always paid as much attention. Now, the NBA is taking notice of the efforts of Houston Rockets to study statistics and ferret out those players who are not big scorers but make a huge difference in whether a team wins or loses.

Battier’s game is a weird combination of obvious weaknesses and nearly invisible strengths. When he is on the court, his teammates get better, often a lot better, and his opponents get worse — often a lot worse. He may not grab huge numbers of rebounds, but he has an uncanny ability to improve his teammates’ rebounding. He doesn’t shoot much, but when he does, he takes only the most efficient shots. He also has a knack for getting the ball to teammates who are in a position to do the same, and he commits few turnovers. On defense, although he routinely guards the N.B.A.’s most prolific scorers, he significantly reduces their shooting percentages. At the same time he somehow improves the defensive efficiency of his teammates — probably, Morey surmises, by helping them out in all sorts of subtle ways. “I call him Lego,” Morey says. “When he’s on the court, all the pieces start to fit together. And everything that leads to winning that you can get to through intellect instead of innate ability, Shane excels in. I’ll bet he’s in the hundredth percentile of every category.”

This article brings back to my mind the Golden Age of the NBA when players like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson not only were superstars, but actually caused the other players around them to play better. Bringing out more people with that same gift can only make the game better and more fun to watch.

Congratulations Commissioner Stern

Congratulations to David Stern who celebrates his 25th year as the Commissioner of the NBA this weekend. He has been the best and most forward thinking commissioner in sport over my lifetime. He has helped the NBA to become and remain popular and relevant through the normal ups and downs of the stars in his sport.

Sports sweep Top 6 Highest Primetime Rated TV Shows for June

The 6 games of the NBA Finals were 5 of the six highest rated TV shows for the month of June. I guess this means that when we have compelling match-ups sports can still draw in big viewership. I too watched more of the NBA finals since the Celtics and Lakers were playing as opposed to if the Spurs and Pistons had played. The highest rated show was the Belmont Stakes horse race.

Celtics: 2008 NBA Champs

I thought CRChair would post this, but since Nick already scooped us I wanted to get something up. The Celtics are the 2008 NBA Champs. It feels like the 80s again.

Kobe Bryant is no Michael Jordan

With the Lakers ascendance to the top of the NBA this season has come the question “Is Kobe Bryant as good as Michael Jordan?”. Commentators on ABC, ESPN and TNT have all weighed in and pretty much unanimously agree that Kobe is now equal to Michael. Having seen both player in their prime, I simply can not agree. I’m not sure Kobe is the best Laker I have ever seen. The most basic sports question for these arguments is “who would you pick to start your team with?” I might start my team with Magic Johnson before Kobe Bryant…But back to the main point here. Michael Jordan won 5 MVP Awards and 6 NBA Championships. Kobe has 1 MVP award (this year) and 3 championships. These accomplishments mark Kobe as an all time great player, but not as the best player to ever play the game.

Superman Slam Dunk!

I am not a big sports guy, but I have to admit the NBA is the sport I watch the most. Partially because CRChair and Shadowmom make me, and partially because these guys really understand SHOWMANSHIP.

NBA Referee Suspended for "Fight" Taunts

This past Sunday we were watching the Spurs game - and I was typically paying little attention due to my sports attention deficit disorder - when suddenly I couldn't look away. One of the referees seemed to go crazy, and eject Tim Duncan from the game while he was on the bench... for laughing at something. It was one of the weirdest moments I have seen in basketball. And apparently, it only got weirder in the retelling. The referee who made the call is now officially suspened for the rest of the NBA season, and may be asked to retire after that. Apparently, he actually challenged Tim Duncan to a fight before tossing him out of the game.

And here I thought basketball was about getting an ball through a hoop more times than the other team.