Ball Don't Lie - NBA

Ball Don't Lie

Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:50 am EDT

David West and the Hornets have Barack Obama's back

By J.E. Skeets


Rumors and Rants blogger "TheBaker" attended an Obama rally in Indianapolis yesterday, and low and behold, who was he was seated right next to? Well, if it wasn't the entire New Orleans Hornets team — complete with Kiwi Sean Marks — who were in town to play the Indiana Pacers later that night.

Now, normally, the story would end there. But if it did I wouldn't be writing this. During Obama's speech, a young protester, sitting about six rows in front of the Hornets team, started causing a scene by yelling something to the effect of "Obama, this isn't your new world order!" Hornets forward David West wasn't having any of it:

"Shut up!" West yelled down to the protester.

The protester kept on.

"Shut up!"

I'll say the protester was roughly 5-foot-10, maybe 165 pounds.

West is 6-foot-9, 240 pounds.

Advantage: West.

Luckily for the protester, a member of the Secret Service got to him before West could.

Perhaps West would have shown him the same type of respect he showed Dirk Nowitzki.

As the Secret Service agent was removing the protester, he escorted him right by the Hornets. And I'm going out on a limb here, but I doubt he figured he'd hear Chris Paul or Tyson Chandler call him all sorts of nice things on his way out.

Only in America.

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  1. Devine
    1. Posted by Devine Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    I love that in the picture, Barack Obama seems WAY more psyched to meet an All-Star power forward than David West is to meet the possible next president of the United States. Somewhere, Chuck Klosterman is writing an impassioned essay about politics as celebrity, the inversion of traditional sociocultural mores as pertains to voter turnouts surpassing sporting event ratings, and how Nick Van Exel would probably make an excellent Secretary of the Interior. AND I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT.
  2. Envigado
    2. Posted by Envigado Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:24 pm EDT

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    Is that Karl Rove behind Obama? LOOK OUT BARACK!!!
  3. ticktock6
    3. Posted by ticktock6 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    @ Devine: I think it's more that D West falls into the category of "hell no, I do not smile for posed pictures." Because he kind of doesn't.
  4. Tank
    4. Posted by Tank Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:30 pm EDT

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    so eddie you don't support him because he's black. you support mccain because he is?
  5. Devine
    5. Posted by Devine Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    @ticktock: Your point is reasonable, and so it angers me. I much prefer the idea that West is thinking, "All right, two more photos and I'm out of here ... whatever you do, David, don't let him rope you into a game of HORSE. Just get away from this dude."
  6. the REAL Headless Chicken
    6. Posted by the REAL Headless Chicken Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:12 pm EDT

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    The worst racism is that one making you think people of a certain enthia would decide only upon ethnia.
  7. ASGisChillin
    7. Posted by ASGisChillin Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:58 pm EDT

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    eddie, that was a brilliant comment. a truly astute political analysis. one question though, if black people are voting for him because he's black then are white people not voting for him because he's not white? by your logic isnt that the same thing and thus just as bad? help me understand oh sage.
  8. Obi-Wan
    8. Posted by Obi-Wan Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:58 pm EDT

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    Maybe he would be a little more excited if he was rubbing up against Hillary Clinton!!!!!! NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D West, stick to what you do best, and that goes for the rest of the athlete/entertainers. B.O. is not the answer to our country's problems.
  9. John
    9. Posted by John Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:39 pm EDT

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    Why does the media point out that Palin is getting 50+ percent of the women vote and they can't understand why women would vote for Palin just because she's a woman, but it's okay for Black people to vote for Obama because he's black. John Kerry got 88% of the African American Vote. Recent polling shows Obama getting about 93% of the Black vote. Based on population, that's roughly 2 MILLION black voters now voting for Obama, that had voted for Bush last time....bet you won't see THAT in the news.
  10. ticktock6
    10. Posted by ticktock6 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    @ John C: Probably because the difference between Palin and Obama is that Palin's beliefs and policies are directly counter to most of what the women's movement generally stands for, whereas Obama's policies are not anti-African American and are instead nicely aligned with what most of the population wants. So women who supported, for instance, Hillary Clinton, and are now supporting Palin really DON'T make any sense.
    I am a woman and a feminist and Palin absolutely and in no way tempts me.
  11. innocuousman178
    11. Posted by innocuousman178 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:24 pm EDT

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    Don't those players know that Obama wants to raise their taxes? McCain is the one they should be supporting!
  12. ciggiest
    12. Posted by ciggiest Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:25 pm EDT

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    I dont think the Hornets Organization or the players support Obama...they just happened to be in Indiana where he was so they met him
  13. Antonio Banderas
    13. Posted by Antonio Banderas Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:04 pm EDT

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    Barack Obama is quite a lucky man here.
  14. big E
    14. Posted by big E Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:56 pm EDT

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    ticktock, you are as wrong as wrong can be when yoy say that Obama's policies are not anti african american. I am african american and probably 85 - 90 pct of african americans are opposed to abortion, same sex marriage and higher taxes. Many people who support Obama don't even know that he favors those things.
  15. aptimum
    15. Posted by aptimum Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    "I am african american and probably 85 - 90 pct of african americans are opposed to abortion, same sex marriage and higher taxes."
    85 to 90%? Probably if the entire Af.Am. population lived in Alan Keyes' house!
    BTW, 85-90% is what DEMOCRATS get from the Af.Am. regardless of the color of the Democrat!
    If 85-90% of this community actually believed like this, there would be more of them in the Republican convention since the Af.Am. pop. makes up 10% of the country yet you have to play "Where's Waldo?" when watching the RNC convention.
  16. ASGisChillin
    16. Posted by ASGisChillin Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:58 pm EDT

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    the polls dont matter folks. the election will show that people vote differently then they say they vote. this clearly is not the forum to raise these types of issues but look up the bradley effect if you think that because obama leads in the polls that he will win. polls make statements about the entire populace based on a small sample, and usually not a truly representative one. so make your decision based on your opinion and not on who you think the polls say is going to win.
    and one other thing, it doesnt matter whether you vote for a guy because he shares your race or because you like his tie. this is the united states where you have the right to vote based on a true analysis of the issues or just based on who is "hotter." its your right either way. so to say that there is something wrong with people voting based on some simple physical characteristic that they share is dumb when the reality is that people make their voting decisions based on a range of reasons from the truly informed to the truly asinine.
  17. aptimum
    17. Posted by aptimum Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    innocuousman, taxes are not the only issue that affect NBA players. Most NBA players come from impoverished backgrounds and I'm sure they would want to vote for someone who at least claims to want to help poor people.
    Plus Democrats like to spend more so I'm sure that NBA players would love the government subsidy that Scottie Pippen gets.
  18. aptimum
    18. Posted by aptimum Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    "the polls dont matter folks. the election will show that people vote differently then they say they vote. this clearly is not the forum to raise these types of issues but look up the bradley effect if you think that because obama leads in the polls that he will win."
    You were right about one thing, this isn't the forum for this.
    The "Bradley effect" occurred in 1982 and A LOT has happened since 1982. In fact, if Tom Bradley were running for governor of California TODAY, he'd win in a landslide!
    Also, re: polling, the people who attack polls are the same ones who love them once the results swing in their favor. Polls are not always correct as a standalone but if you place other factors along with the poll such as the terrible shape of the economy and the Iraq war, things are certainly working in Obama's favor and the Presidential polls are in the same general direction as issue polls.
  19. stephenxy1
    19. Posted by stephenxy1 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:41 pm EDT

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    Even though I'm a hornets fan, and it was a nice thing to do, but.................................GO McCain 08!!!!!
  20. hr1rgb
    20. Posted by hr1rgb Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:21 pm EDT

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    Hey aptimum maybe the NBA players aren't as much as pricks as you and they realize that they can afford to foot a little more of the bill of the country and they don't have o whine about it. I think they will be alright even if they spend another $20,000, or whatever, in taxes.
  21. aptimum
    21. Posted by aptimum Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    hey hr1rgb, what exactly are you angry about? Is it the fact that you're so illiterate that you didn't read my posts?
    BTW, call me a prick if you want, at least I got one! Your wifey is joyriding it.
  22. big E
    22. Posted by big E Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:56 pm EDT

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    I don't care if the vote is 99% democrat. I still say 85 - 90% of african americans oppose abortion, same sexmarriage and higher taxes. Too many people don't even know that there is such a thing as a "Platform" which is adopted by each party and that that Platform outlines the policies of the party. Unfortunately, a LOT of my people fall into that category. It saddens me to say it but it saddens me even more to know that it is true.
  23. aptimum
    23. Posted by aptimum Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    And Big E I'd say that if that were actually the case, there would be a lot more black Repubs. Either your stats are wrong or these issues do not rank that highly compared to other issues.
  24. Emmett
    24. Posted by Emmett Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:54 pm EDT

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    What and awesome act by David West and the Hornet's...
  25. ticktock6
    25. Posted by ticktock6 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    @ big e: good point. i guess my point would be more that it's a population that largely supports the democratic party anyway. there are always things on the platform that people aren't in agreement with. it's a flaw of our two party system more than anything else. (though with abortion, it's important to remember that obama doesn't want abortions-- he's said he doesn't believe in it but supports other people's freedoms.) i was really thinking more about issues like equality, health care, supporting the middle class, etc. people should always take the issues that personally affect them and measure the tradeoff between getting that and also getting some things you don't quite agree with. for me there is nothing about palin that makes me want to leap across the ticket from where i usually vote just because we both have vaginas. when there's finally a woman in a high office, i want it to be a highly educated, well spoken, unsubservient ("aw shucks, i'm just a lil ol girl from alaska! i don't know about politics!" and being cute is not empowering. it's backwards to everything women have fought for) woman.

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