Steve Nash: An athlete with a conscience
By
Monica Moorehead
Published May 19, 2005 10:52 PM
This year’s Most Valuable Player award
in the National Basket ball Association went to Steve Nash, a 6-foot white guard
who plays with the Phoenix Suns. He was raised in Canada.
Nash is highly
regard ed as a selfless player who is not only a great shooter but a great
passer. He led the league in assists—meaning passing the ball to an open
teammate who went on to score.
When he was presented the MVP award he
insisted that all of his teammates, the great majority of them African American,
accept the award with him to show that he could not have won the award without
their cooperation.
Nash is not only an exceptional player, he is
politically progressive. Two years ago, before the U.S. attacked Iraq, Nash
spoke out against this war. At the February 2003 All-Star game, he wore a
practice t-shirt that read, “Shoot baskets, not people.”
In
defense of his t-shirt he stated, “I think that war is wrong in 99.9
percent of all cases. I think [the Iraq war] has much more to do with oil or
some sort of distraction, because I don’t feel as though we should be
worrying about Iraq.” (http://www.edgeofsports.com)
When more politically
conservative NBA players and officials publicly spoke out against Nash’s
stance, he never backed down. Nash’s public denunciation of the Iraq war
is reminiscent of the heroic position that Muhammad Ali took against the Vietnam
War. Ali, who is African Amer ican, later had his heavyweight boxing title
stolen from him in 1971 for refusing to fight in that war.
Nash stated
that one of the books he read recently was the “Communist
Manifesto.” Nash may be small in physical stature, compared to other NBA
players, but his political consciousness helps him stand head and shoulders
above many other athletes.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE