Suns Basketball » arizona http://www.sunsbasketball.net Following the Rising & Setting Suns Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:00:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Why Stern Should Take a Stand in Arizona http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/01/why-stern-should-take-a-stand-in-arizona/ http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/01/why-stern-should-take-a-stand-in-arizona/#comments Sun, 02 May 2010 03:36:42 +0000 Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/01/why-stern-should-take-a-stand-in-arizona/ Bethlehem Shoalsby Bethlehem Shoals

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When Arizona first passed its "show me the papers" law, I wondered on FreeDarko why Steve Nash wasn't being expected to speak out. After all, LeBron James caught flak for not riding into China and insisting it stop funding the genocide in Darfur. And wasn't Nash the standard-bearer in the NBA when it came to holding political positions?

But it wasn't that simple. Nash may be the most popular sportsman in Arizona, but he's not a voting American citizen. His past activism may have been grossly exaggerated by fans and the media. Finally, if the law does indeed have broad support among Arizonans, Nash would essentially be pitting himself against his constituency -- a challenge people resent when it comes from their elected representatives, to say nothing of their star athletes.

Ethically, maybe Nash should have said something. Realistically, though, I can see why he didn't. In 2003, he voiced his opposition to the Iraq War and had to spend months afterward explaining himself. Practically, it's the playoffs; Nash wouldn't be taking a visceral stance that everyone could identify with, but an intellectual one. The playoffs got no time for that. Nor did the Olympics.

Jump ahead to yesterday, when the Major League Baseball Players Association announced its (admittedly vague) opposition to the bill. If Nash's dilemma depended on how his voice would be received, the MLBPA had no such reservations. Theirs was a purely visceral attack, and a total no-brainer. Without specifying any demand, the players let Arizona, the commissioner and the fans know, in no uncertain terms, that they would not stand for this.

And with that, everything changed for the NBA.

 

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]]> Bethlehem Shoalsby Bethlehem Shoals

Filed under: , ,



When Arizona first passed its "show me the papers" law, I wondered on FreeDarko why Steve Nash wasn't being expected to speak out. After all, LeBron James caught flak for not riding into China and insisting it stop funding the genocide in Darfur. And wasn't Nash the standard-bearer in the NBA when it came to holding political positions?

But it wasn't that simple. Nash may be the most popular sportsman in Arizona, but he's not a voting American citizen. His past activism may have been grossly exaggerated by fans and the media. Finally, if the law does indeed have broad support among Arizonans, Nash would essentially be pitting himself against his constituency -- a challenge people resent when it comes from their elected representatives, to say nothing of their star athletes.

Ethically, maybe Nash should have said something. Realistically, though, I can see why he didn't. In 2003, he voiced his opposition to the Iraq War and had to spend months afterward explaining himself. Practically, it's the playoffs; Nash wouldn't be taking a visceral stance that everyone could identify with, but an intellectual one. The playoffs got no time for that. Nor did the Olympics.

Jump ahead to yesterday, when the Major League Baseball Players Association announced its (admittedly vague) opposition to the bill. If Nash's dilemma depended on how his voice would be received, the MLBPA had no such reservations. Theirs was a purely visceral attack, and a total no-brainer. Without specifying any demand, the players let Arizona, the commissioner and the fans know, in no uncertain terms, that they would not stand for this.

And with that, everything changed for the NBA.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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