Phoenix to wear 'Los Suns' jerseys for Game 2 vs. Spurs
Suns owner Robert Sarver issues statement on new Arizona immigration law
by Paul Coro - May. 4, 2010 03:30 PM
The Arizona Republic
The Phoenix Suns made a bold statement Tuesday denouncing the controversial new immigration bill that recently was signed into law, and widespread reaction has followed.
Managing Partner Robert Sarver decided - with unanimous support from his players - that the Suns would wear their "Los Suns" jerseys in recognition of playing Game 2 against San Antonio on Cinco de Mayo. He also addressed the immigration bill that has been a divisive national topic since Gov. Jan Brewer enacted it into law April 23.
"The frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law," Sarver said in a statement released by the Suns on Tuesday morning. "However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them."
The bill, SB1070, makes it a crime for a person to not have immigration documents and empowers law enforcement agencies to question the status of people based on "reasonable suspicion."
After the Suns won their first-round series in Portland on Thursday, Sarver made the decision that he wanted the Suns to wear the orange "Los Suns" jerseys, which Phoenix wore in two March home wins for the NBA's Noche Latina marketing. In a team meeting at Sarver's house Saturday, all the players were in favor of wearing them today, Sarver said by phone.
"I looked around our plane and looked at our players and the diversity in our organization," Sarver said. "I thought we need to go on record that we honor our diversity in our team, in the NBA and we need to show support for that. As for the political part of that, that's my statement."
Sarver's displeasure with SB1070 is two-fold. The Arizona native primarily disputes the infringement of people's rights but also is concerned about the effect it will have on the state's economy.
"I don't think it's the right way to handle the immigration problem, No. 1," Sarver said. "No. 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. In addition, one of the main priorities right now for our state is to get jobs for people. The enactment of this bill just puts us farther behind the eight-ball in attracting companies to do business here and I think it will have a negative economic effect and a negative effect on our ability to create jobs for people who are looking for work.
"Hopefully, it's all going to get worked out and the federal government will step in and there'll be a national solution. I realize that immigration is a problem and we have issues that need to be dealt with. I just don't think this bill accomplishes that."
The Suns had to get league approval to wear the jerseys for Game 2 of their second-round NBA playoff series, which Phoenix leads 1-0.
"There are times you need to stand up and be heard," Sarver said. "I respect people's views on the other side but I just felt it was appropriate for me to stand up and make a statement."
Suns co-captain Steve Nash has no problem expressing his political views under the basketball spotlight. He once wore a "No war. Shoot for peace." T-shirt during 2003 All-Star Game interviews.
"It's a clear-cut issue for me," said Nash, the South African-born Canadian who is one of three foreigners on the Suns roster along with Brazil's Leandro Barbosa and Slovenia's Goran Dragic. "I don't agree with this bill. I don't agree with the spirit of the bill or the message it sends, not only to people in our community but how it represents our community across the country and the world.
"I think the bill opens up the opportunity for racial profiling, racism. I think it puts the police in an incredibly difficult position that isn't fair to them. It's an infringement on our civil liberties to allow the possibility for inequality to arise in our community."
The San Antonio Spurs wanted to be a part of the Suns' statement Wednesday but could not get the "Los Spurs" jerseys to do it in time.
"It's a wonderful idea because it kind of shows what we all should be about," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "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. This reaction, I agree with Mr. Sarver, is inappropriate. It's kind of like 9-11 comes and all of a sudden there's a Patriot Act, just a knee-jerk sort of thing and it changes our country, what we stand for. This law smacks of that to some degree. So I think what he's doing … is very wise and very correct."
Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said the organization is prepared for backlash, as any political stance would draw, but that the Suns felt it was "our duty" to address a national issue while they were in the national spotlight.
"It's hard to imagine in this country that we have to produce papers," Kerr said. "It rings up images of Nazi Germany. We understand that the intentions of the law are not for that to happen but you have to be very, very careful. We feel like it was well-intended but maybe not well-executed. As a result, this state is taking a huge economic hit. People are canceling conventions. There are protests going on. Ebay just withdrew 2,000 jobs that they were going to move here. It's important that everyone in our state and nation understands this is an issue that needs to be explored. So we're trying to expose it. We're not trying to make a huge political push. We're not crafting a bill."
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who is from Argentina, is also against the bill.
"I hope they change it back to what it was and give the workers the possibility to be legal and pay taxes with everything else and do well," Ginobili said. "I really feel for them. It's a really hard situation. The fact that they can stop you in the middle of the street and take you back to Mexico is kind of hard."
Suns Ring of Honor member and Valley resident Charles Barkley also weighed in on the immigration bill during a national radio interview Tuesday on the Dan Patrick Show.
"Living in Arizona, I'm disappointed that we came up with the law," Barkley said. "But we need to do two things. We need to find a way to get these immigrants their citizenship, that's the first thing, is to find a way to help them get citizenship. I'm very disappointed in John McCain. He used to be somebody I really admired and respected.
"The second thing, to me, would be very simple. Anybody who hires immigrants, you just fine them. They're not working for other immigrants. Fine and penalize the people they're working for, because most of those immigrants here are busting their hump, doing a great job, and to go after them every couple years because you want to raise hell doing something to get re-elected, that's disrespectful and disgusting."
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