ElNono
11-18-2011, 02:52 PM
Ginóbili confessed he was discriminated in the NBA because he was "white and south american".
Emanuel Ginóbili, the best argentinean basketball player in the country's history, revealed being discriminated in the US because of the color of his skin and his south american roots. He said it on an interview with the La Garganta Poderosa, a magazine that mostly targeted to the country's poor people and that's edited in Buenos Aires.
"I was underestimated because I was white, because I was from South America, and because nobody knew me", confessed Emanuel Ginóbili, in a long interview with La Garganta Poderosa, a magazine that mostly targeted to the country's poor people, that's edited in Buenos Aires and that had interviewed other personalities like Diego Maradona, Indio Solari and Juan Ramón Riquelme.
"I noticed, for example, when I was guarding another player; He was looking at me, thinking: 'who is this guy, where did he come from?' and then he would ask his teammates to pass him the ball: 'Give me the ball, this guy is guarding me', continued Ginobili about his beginnings in the most powerful basketball league in the world.
In the interview, the basketball player from Bahia discussed education, the growth of Latin America, 'Che' Guevara, the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and the troubles in the US, among other things.
The NT player that won the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and that will play in the 2012 London Olympics, added: "Discrimination exists all over the world" and that he experienced it "everywhere, with different excuses".
Nevertheless, the San Antonio Spurs player in the NBA explained that in his case, the prejudices only happened inside the basketball court.
"I didn't get discriminated because I'm a popular person, and because basketball in San Antonio is very important. That's terrible because there's a lot of anonymous people that do experience it", he remarked.
Ginobili also talked about the growth of Latin America: "With the resurgence of Brazil, also Argentina is a little better, and Mexico, the tendency is changing. The union from the different governments is giving the region more power, more votes. And that causes the region to be seen differently, with more value".
"Manu" also talked about the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo: "Their search is completely legitimate, and since I've become a father, I can't image what would it be to lose my sons or don't know where they are, or what was of them".
"Also, what they're doing for society is very important, both Madres and Grandmothers have done a lot of good things. You just can't believe the balls they had when they started their struggle, and above all, having the courage that they had to start protesting at certain moments where not everybody would have", he added.
The guard that started his career in Bahiense del Norte also had time to talk about one of the emblems of Argentina's history: "What 'Che' Guevara did, take off in a motorbike across Latin America, change the way he did, and start a revolution, only for the good of the people, sounds like a novel, something spectacular".
"Nowadays, he would try to do the same, but in a different way, with variations that were not available back then", Manu said.
Lastly, the leader of the 'Golden Generation' of basketball, explained that in the US "not everything is lights and luxury", that "there's quite a few poor neighborhoods and cities that after the last crisis have become poorer" and that there's people that "don't know how to read or write". He also marked a big difference when it comes to education.
"Education has to be a top priority. In this country you have every possibility for kids to study, because education is public, but really, really public. In the US you have public schools, but when you get to the end of the year, you paid for this, that… It's expensive to study and not everybody can have that luxury", he finalized.
[link to the original article in Spanish (http://www.lacapital.com.ar/ovacion/Ginobili-confeso-que-fue-discriminado-en-la-NBA-por-ser-blanquito-y-sudamericano-20111118-0068.html)]
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Disclaimer: I'm just the messenger. I tried to do my best translating, and anybody else feel free to correct. Yes, the title of the article is somewhat sensationalist, but I didn't write it.
Emanuel Ginóbili, the best argentinean basketball player in the country's history, revealed being discriminated in the US because of the color of his skin and his south american roots. He said it on an interview with the La Garganta Poderosa, a magazine that mostly targeted to the country's poor people and that's edited in Buenos Aires.
"I was underestimated because I was white, because I was from South America, and because nobody knew me", confessed Emanuel Ginóbili, in a long interview with La Garganta Poderosa, a magazine that mostly targeted to the country's poor people, that's edited in Buenos Aires and that had interviewed other personalities like Diego Maradona, Indio Solari and Juan Ramón Riquelme.
"I noticed, for example, when I was guarding another player; He was looking at me, thinking: 'who is this guy, where did he come from?' and then he would ask his teammates to pass him the ball: 'Give me the ball, this guy is guarding me', continued Ginobili about his beginnings in the most powerful basketball league in the world.
In the interview, the basketball player from Bahia discussed education, the growth of Latin America, 'Che' Guevara, the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and the troubles in the US, among other things.
The NT player that won the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and that will play in the 2012 London Olympics, added: "Discrimination exists all over the world" and that he experienced it "everywhere, with different excuses".
Nevertheless, the San Antonio Spurs player in the NBA explained that in his case, the prejudices only happened inside the basketball court.
"I didn't get discriminated because I'm a popular person, and because basketball in San Antonio is very important. That's terrible because there's a lot of anonymous people that do experience it", he remarked.
Ginobili also talked about the growth of Latin America: "With the resurgence of Brazil, also Argentina is a little better, and Mexico, the tendency is changing. The union from the different governments is giving the region more power, more votes. And that causes the region to be seen differently, with more value".
"Manu" also talked about the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo: "Their search is completely legitimate, and since I've become a father, I can't image what would it be to lose my sons or don't know where they are, or what was of them".
"Also, what they're doing for society is very important, both Madres and Grandmothers have done a lot of good things. You just can't believe the balls they had when they started their struggle, and above all, having the courage that they had to start protesting at certain moments where not everybody would have", he added.
The guard that started his career in Bahiense del Norte also had time to talk about one of the emblems of Argentina's history: "What 'Che' Guevara did, take off in a motorbike across Latin America, change the way he did, and start a revolution, only for the good of the people, sounds like a novel, something spectacular".
"Nowadays, he would try to do the same, but in a different way, with variations that were not available back then", Manu said.
Lastly, the leader of the 'Golden Generation' of basketball, explained that in the US "not everything is lights and luxury", that "there's quite a few poor neighborhoods and cities that after the last crisis have become poorer" and that there's people that "don't know how to read or write". He also marked a big difference when it comes to education.
"Education has to be a top priority. In this country you have every possibility for kids to study, because education is public, but really, really public. In the US you have public schools, but when you get to the end of the year, you paid for this, that… It's expensive to study and not everybody can have that luxury", he finalized.
[link to the original article in Spanish (http://www.lacapital.com.ar/ovacion/Ginobili-confeso-que-fue-discriminado-en-la-NBA-por-ser-blanquito-y-sudamericano-20111118-0068.html)]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I'm just the messenger. I tried to do my best translating, and anybody else feel free to correct. Yes, the title of the article is somewhat sensationalist, but I didn't write it.