Getting Political – Phoenix To Wear “Los Sons” Jerseys Against Spurs, Game 2

The Phoenix Suns are wearing their Latino jerseys tonight in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Donning the words “Los Suns” across their chest, it’s being touted as a highly political move by Phoenix’s NBA franchise. With Arizona entrenched in controversy over its sourpuss immigration enforcement laws, it’s a daring move by any owner and team to take a stand in support of a minority community.

Robert Starver, the owner of the Phoenix Suns, said, "Our players and organization felt that wearing our ‘Los Suns’ jerseys on Cinco de Mayo was a way for our team and our organization to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the State of Arizona, and our nation … " [credit: AP].

As mad as the government officials might be about this surprising political stance by the favored Phoenix Suns in Game 2, nobody should be more pissed about this than Tony Parker.

Cinco de Mayo, amongst many things, is usually a tremendous drinking holiday for college kids. It’s easy to assume that it’s a day meant to celebrate Mexican’s version of Independence Day, but that’s not the case. Instead, it’s a holiday that commemorates the day the Mexican army liberated the country from French invaders.

Outnumbered two-to-one, the scantily armed Mexican forces drove out the French forces in 1861 at the historic Battle of Puebla. Ironically, and assuredly unintentionally, the Suns are poking fun at the French invasion of the Spurs’ starting point man during the NBA playoffs as well.

Whether this backfires by reminding Parker of his French heritage (one I’m refraining from calling “proud”), will be seen tonight as Phoenix hosts Game 2 as -2.5 NBA betting favorites. Parker scored 26-points on 11-of-21 shooting in 36 minutes off the bench for San Antonio. He’s expected to get the start in place of George Hill, who was severely unprepared to contain Steve Nash, who blew up in the first quarter for 17-points and ended the game with 33.

Still, the comedic collision of Starver’s message, Parker’s presence and Cinco de Mayo all slamming in to each other has raised the stakes for Game 2. If the Phoenix Suns lose, betting fans won’t be so jovial about Starver dressing his team up like political activists. Like any other fans, the betting public is just as superstitious about what a team wears as anyone else.

The message has been heard loud and clear. Arizona as a state needs to clean up its act, especially considering the ever-growing presence of Latinos in the United States and the evolving acceptance of immigrants in to the country. I for one applaud Starver’s ambition in using Game 2 as a political platform.

The Phoenix Suns betting faithful, however, won’t be so happy if history fails to repeat itself and the Suns get trampled by an enraged Tony Parker and the veteran Spurs. If there’s ever a time for Tony Parker to watch the movie Gladiator before a game, it’s this time. Maybe he can rewrite his own Battle of Zama.

Or maybe the Arizona state public officials can just get their act together so the worlds of sports and politics don’t have to mix so wildly like they did in the 1960’s.

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