'Los Suns' jerseys set for Cinco de Mayo

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Bufalay

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5162380



PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns will wear "Los Suns" on their jerseys in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night, owner Robert Sarver said, "to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation."

The decision to wear the jerseys on the Cinco de Mayo holiday stems from a law passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer that has drawn widespread criticism from Latino organizations and civil rights groups that say it could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. President Barack Obama has called the law "misguided."

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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 measure makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally, and it directs local police to question people about their immigration status and demand to see their documents if there is reason to suspect they are illegal.

The controversy surrounding the law has led to picketing at some road games of baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks and a call from the Rev. Jesse Jackson for major league baseball to move next year's All-Star Game from Phoenix.

Sarver came up with the "Los Suns" jersey idea but left it up to the players for the final decision, Suns guard Steve Nash said, and all of them were for it.

"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."

Nash was born in South Africa and moved with his parents to Victoria, British Columbia, when he was 1½ years old. He was one of four Canadians to light the torch in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics this year.

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said his team was interested in taking part but couldn't get new "Los Spurs" road jerseys in time for the game.

"It's a wonderful idea," Popovich said. "because it kind of shows what we all should be about. Sure there needs to be a lot of work done, obviously. A lot of administrations have done nothing about the immigration deal and now everybody's paying the price, especially a lot of people in Arizona. That's a bad thing, but the reaction is important, too, and this reaction [the Arizona law], I believe with Mr. Sarver, is inappropriate."

Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr said he and Sarver talked about making the gesture as the team flew home from Portland last week.

"We just felt like it was important," Kerr said. "We're in the public eye and this is obviously a huge issue. We acknowledge there are two sides to the issue and there are a lot of dynamics. It's a difficult thing to sift through and there are going to be differing opinions. But what we're focusing on is we want to celebrate the diversity that exists in our state and the diversity that exists in the NBA, make sure that people understand that we know what's going on and we don't agree with the law itself."

But Kerr said "this isn't a huge political stand as much as it is just a celebration of diversity."

He said the Suns called the NBA for approval "and they were all for it."

Suns coach Alvin Gentry didn't want to comment on Arizona's immigration bill and said he was focused on showing appreciation for the Latino community and Arizona's diversity.

"I'm not trying to duck it," Gentry said. "I don't know enough about it to really comment on it. I would think that if it had anything to do with racial profiling, then obviously as an African-American I would not be for anything that had any hint of racial profiling."

The Suns wore the "Los Suns" jerseys twice in the regular season, and won both games.

"It's going to be great to wear Los Suns," Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire said, "to let the Latin community know that we're behind them 100 percent."

Interesting.
 

ninous26

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Oh no! Not these stupid jerseys.. Suns always lose when they were these things.
 

ninous26

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Hmm.. Well I'm probably just remembering from the Shaq days then.. Oh well, GO SUNS!:D

Yes they are orng
 

AfroSuns

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I love the idea, i will be at that game and i hope they sell them too.
 

elindholm

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If they really wanted to make a statement, they could give away 2000 seats to illegal immigrants. Now that would be a crowd!
 

Gaddabout

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I'd rather not move this thread to P&R, so as long as we can avoid discussing the immigration law, I'll leave it here. Thanks!
 

Greg Popovich

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Hats off to Mr. Sarver and to the Suns players--to me, tonight, they are all heroes!
 

TJ

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Trying not to imply anything P&R, but the team needs to focus on winning Game 2 and nothing else.
 

Yuma

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What if we lose by 20 or 30 points wearing these?
 

BC867

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What if we lose by 20 or 30 points wearing these?
Then it would show that the Suns lost the sense of urgency after winning Game 1. Regardless of what they wear.

I hope they keep it up, especially in the first and fourth quarters of every remaining game.
 

Tyler

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This only happens to teams who break out the "banana pants" on a whim against their in-state rival.

I dont care what anyone says about those, as a Sun Devil I like them. Sure the outcomes sucked, but they are nice. The helmet still doesnt match the pants! Sorry for getting off subject.


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D-Dogg

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So, when do you guys wear your "The Suns" jerseys? Looking forward to those in the WCF.


Sol.
 

chickenhead

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I think it's a great idea. Shows respect to an important and welcome part of the fanbase.

As for the banana pants. I remember being at the ASU-UofA game when Marmie was coaching (1989 I think) and they slowly walked out in the all-gold. You almost knew they were going to lose right then.
 

TucsonDevil

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If they really wanted to make a statement, they could give away 2000 seats to illegal immigrants. Now that would be a crowd!

That would actually be easy for Sarver; he already has them working in the cleanup crew.
 

TucsonDevil

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Poor Strategy, Huge Distraction

Whether or not you agree with the "Los Suns" Jersey - Sarver picked the wrong time to make a political statement. Everyone in the Suns organization is being asked about this in the local and national press. Guess who isn't worrying about any of this and is just focusing on the game?

Does Robert Sarver realize how important this game is for the San Antonio Spurs? If they win, they leave Phoenix with their goal realized. They didn't expect to leave with a two game lead, they just needed the split. Yesterday on 'Pardon the Interruption', Steve spent more time answering questions about the Jersey and the Teams' stance on the Enforcement Bill than he did talking about the Spurs series matchup.

This is a just the wrong time. Yes, life is more important than sports - however if you ran a business, would you have any other event spontaneously disrupt your organization during the quarter close? If you would, then you don't have management experience - and supposedly Sarver has a ton of Management experience. I just don't get it.

I guess the Suns are content with splitting in Phoenix... otherwise, they would have announced this decision BEFORE Game 1 and not after.
 

chickenhead

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It's a story regardless of what they wear, and I hope it actually gives the Suns an easy answer. They can simply say "We just want to show our whole fanbase that we're their team," rather than having to wade into the topic. But I don't get the same Suns coverage out here so can't speak to the questions they are getting.
 

TucsonDevil

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It's a story regardless of what they wear...

It's been a story surrounding the D'Backs, but hasn't had much impact on the Suns. Sarver just threw his team into the debate - I question the timing of this decision.
 
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