duncan228
05-05-2010, 03:21 PM
Phil Jackson Does Not Support the Suns’ Stand on Immigration Law (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-philjacksondoesnotsu)
SportingNews
Wow, that Suns news from yesterday sure created quite the brouhaha, huh? It prompted impassioned comments from people on both sides of the issue around the World Wide Web, and to some extent I wish we could all get along and hold hands in a big circle. Cinco de Mayo used to be a time when we could all band together under our shared love of tortilla chips, not argue about where those same delicious treats were made.
Sadly, though, this is still a story, and it must be discussed. Specifically, I’d like to talk about what Phil Jackson said to ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande yesterday. Phil’s the Zen Master and kind soul who believes in the importance of all living things, so he must support the Suns’ actions, right? Not so much (http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/15724/phil-jackson-on-his-future-and-leaving-politics-in-the-past):
First Jackson, who has showed lefty leanings in the past, indicated he had no problem with the controversial state Senate Bill 1070.
“Am I crazy, or am I the only one that heard [the legislature] say ‘we just took the United States immigration law and adapted it to our state,’” Jackson said.
I told him they usurped the federal law. “It’s not usurping, it’s just copying it is what they said they did, and then they gave it some teeth to be able to enforce it,” Jackson said. […]
“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. If I heard it right the American people are really for stronger immigration laws, if I’m not mistaken. Where we stand as basketball teams, we should let that kind of play out and let the political end of that go where it’s going to go.”
I don’t want to talk about the political specifics of his comments—we’ve had enough discussion about that here lately. Instead, I’d like to focus on that last paragraph, where Phil essentially says that basketball teams should focus on basketball and not make political stands.
In the public eye, Jackson has always been the coach who approaches basketball like it’s about something beyond the game. Whether that involves giving his players books that might affect their lives or just generally approaching them as people rather than simply athletes, he’s been the coach who appears to understand the importance of the world beyond the sport.
So his saying that the Suns should pay attention to what’s happening on the court and let the political landscape take care of itself is surprising. Robert Sarver and his organization are showing an understanding of their social importance, exactly the kind of broader sense of status in the world that Jackson has always supported. You don’t give Derek Fisher a book by Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver and expect him to only apply its lessons to basketball.
Look, I know it’s the playoffs, when everyone should be super serious about their mission to win a really cool big gold trophy. But for Phil to make these comments when a team finally took a serious stand in a manner you think he’d support seems hypocritical. No matter your politics, that’s disappointing.
SportingNews
Wow, that Suns news from yesterday sure created quite the brouhaha, huh? It prompted impassioned comments from people on both sides of the issue around the World Wide Web, and to some extent I wish we could all get along and hold hands in a big circle. Cinco de Mayo used to be a time when we could all band together under our shared love of tortilla chips, not argue about where those same delicious treats were made.
Sadly, though, this is still a story, and it must be discussed. Specifically, I’d like to talk about what Phil Jackson said to ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande yesterday. Phil’s the Zen Master and kind soul who believes in the importance of all living things, so he must support the Suns’ actions, right? Not so much (http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/15724/phil-jackson-on-his-future-and-leaving-politics-in-the-past):
First Jackson, who has showed lefty leanings in the past, indicated he had no problem with the controversial state Senate Bill 1070.
“Am I crazy, or am I the only one that heard [the legislature] say ‘we just took the United States immigration law and adapted it to our state,’” Jackson said.
I told him they usurped the federal law. “It’s not usurping, it’s just copying it is what they said they did, and then they gave it some teeth to be able to enforce it,” Jackson said. […]
“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. If I heard it right the American people are really for stronger immigration laws, if I’m not mistaken. Where we stand as basketball teams, we should let that kind of play out and let the political end of that go where it’s going to go.”
I don’t want to talk about the political specifics of his comments—we’ve had enough discussion about that here lately. Instead, I’d like to focus on that last paragraph, where Phil essentially says that basketball teams should focus on basketball and not make political stands.
In the public eye, Jackson has always been the coach who approaches basketball like it’s about something beyond the game. Whether that involves giving his players books that might affect their lives or just generally approaching them as people rather than simply athletes, he’s been the coach who appears to understand the importance of the world beyond the sport.
So his saying that the Suns should pay attention to what’s happening on the court and let the political landscape take care of itself is surprising. Robert Sarver and his organization are showing an understanding of their social importance, exactly the kind of broader sense of status in the world that Jackson has always supported. You don’t give Derek Fisher a book by Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver and expect him to only apply its lessons to basketball.
Look, I know it’s the playoffs, when everyone should be super serious about their mission to win a really cool big gold trophy. But for Phil to make these comments when a team finally took a serious stand in a manner you think he’d support seems hypocritical. No matter your politics, that’s disappointing.