Spencer Hawes visits Suns

[Superbone]

Before someone responds with "Oh stewardess, I speak Steve"...

D'oh!

 

[AzStevenCal]

D'oh!

I know. Life is full of wasted opportunities.

Steve

 

[mojorizen7]

It means Frye doesn't rebound a lot and some like their PFs to be able to rebound the ball for some strange reason.

Yeah imagine that, on a Suns team loaded with guards and shooters no less.

Before someone responds with "Oh stewardess, I speak Steve", it means Hawes is somewhat vocal with his political and social opinions. Whether I agree with him or not, I'd rather not even know the political leaning of a basketball player. The more out there he is, the more likely it will become a problem. Putting Ted Nugent on this team might liven up the jam sessions but it's going to cause a few problems in the locker and elsewhere.

Steve

Does that really bother you Steve? Is it important that your political views are inline with the individuals on your favorite basketball team? If so thats fine(of course), but that seems very alien to me. Obviously no one wants a team full of douchebags but...

I could care less about a players politics in terms of left/right. I care about putting the right mix of players on the court in order to build a balanced team...rebounding included.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Does that really bother you Steve? Is it important that your political views are inline with the individuals on your favorite basketball team? If so thats fine(of course), but that seems very alien to me. Obviously no one wants a team full of douchebags but...

I could care less about a players politics in terms of left/right. I care about putting the right mix of players on the court in order to build a balanced team...rebounding included.

No it doesn't bother me, I thought I was pretty clear about that. But a divided locker room bothers me. I think most locker rooms have varied political ideologies and life goes on just fine. The problem arises when you get a player that leans to either extreme and is outspoken about it. Apparently, Hawes is outspoken.

Steve

 

[sunsfan88]

I don't care if Dragic or Bledsoe are democrats or republicans. I don't care if my coworker is a democrat or a republican.

My best friend supports the enemy of the political group that I support and doesn't bother me one bit despite both of us being extremely passionate about politics.

I highly doubt that Hawes has even a .01% negative factor because of him being an outspoken Democrat.

 

[sunsfan88]

I'm hoping for 3 years at 4M a year but I bet he gets 3 years at 5M a year. This Lebron chase is messing up the Suns recruiting IMO.

You might be right and I find that ridiculous especially if we end up with no LeBron to show for it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I don't care if Dragic or Bledsoe are democrats or republicans. I don't care if my coworker is a democrat or a republican.

My best friend supports the enemy of the political group that I support and doesn't bother me one bit despite both of us being extremely passionate about politics.

I highly doubt that Hawes has even a .01% negative factor because of him being an outspoken Democrat.

You missed the point. It really isn't about his politics. He's a conservative Republican AND he's outspoken. It's the outspoken part that is the big concern. Granted I'm also not thrilled with his "toilet paper with Obama's face" as I don't like it when people fail to respect the Presidency but my concern would be more about his impact on the locker room. I don't know that it would keep me from bringing him in but it would be a concern.

Steve

 

[KloD]

Yeah imagine that, on a Suns team loaded with guards and shooters no less.


Does that really bother you Steve? Is it important that your political views are inline with the individuals on your favorite basketball team? If so thats fine(of course), but that seems very alien to me. Obviously no one wants a team full of douchebags but...

I could care less about a players politics in terms of left/right. I care about putting the right mix of players on the court in order to build a balanced team...rebounding included.

JMO, but anyone who is outspoken about their politics. The kind of outspoken that they will talk about it at work and tell everyone where they stand, those folks are not usually respectful of folks who disagree with them. I've yet to in my life work with a person who's views are opposite of mine that made for a comfortable work environment. I don't believe in discussing religion and politics in the workplace myself, but I've had to work next to some who do and I had no respect for said persons as their big mouths demonstrated they had no respect for others around them.

Anyone who is as outspoken as Hawes and dividing as his views are is not someone I would want on a Suns team. Anyone who builds a fan site for Ann Coulter is bent too far to an extreme to make others around him not feel uncomfortable or at least have no respect for him. I want a cohesive team.

 

[Mainstreet]

JMO, but anyone who is outspoken about their politics. The kind of outspoken that they will talk about it at work and tell everyone where they stand, those folks are not usually respectful of folks who disagree with them. I've yet to in my life work with a person who's views are opposite of mine that made for a comfortable work environment. I don't believe in discussing religion and politics in the workplace myself, but I've had to work next to some who do and I had no respect for said persons as their big mouths demonstrated they had no respect for others around them.

Anyone who is as outspoken as Hawes and dividing as his views are is not someone I would want on a Suns team. Anyone who builds a fan site for Ann Coulter is bent too far to an extreme to make others around him not feel uncomfortable or at least have no respect for him. I want a cohesive team.

Well said.

 

[Ronin]

Just when I was warming up to him coming to the Suns, Hawes goes and signs with another team.lol

 

[Superbone]

Just when I was warming up to him coming to the Suns, Hawes goes and signs with another team.lol

His timing is really quite bad. He most likely would have gotten along swimmingly with Donald Sterling.

 

[mojorizen7]

We feel differently obviously. Thats cool.

I'll respectfully disagree with you guys in terms of this political extremist/locker room/cancer stuff. If your locker room can't handle something like Hawes then you've got bigger problems. Besides, he's perfect for this town

Concerning Hawes' extremist beliefs, it has no bearing whatsoever on personnel,production or basketball in my views(this coming from a very left wing guy myself). Suit up, shoot 3's and rebound. Talk all you want. There are many different faiths/religions in an NBA locker room too, some players gather and pray together...others don't. No big deal. I see similarities there.


I'd be more concerned with having simply "bad people" on my favorite team than an outspoken political lobbyist. I suppose it's possible that my lack of faith in politics in general has rendered me apathetic on this subject.

It'd probably stir up more trouble here on a message board than in an NBA locker room, and for that reason I'll move on. Looks like Hawes is off the market now anyway.

Back to sports...

 

[AzStevenCal]

We feel differently obviously. Thats cool.

I'll respectfully disagree with you guys in terms of this political extremist/locker room/cancer stuff. If your locker room can't handle something like Hawes then you've got bigger problems. Besides, he's perfect for this town

Concerning Hawes' extremist beliefs, it has no bearing whatsoever on personnel,production or basketball in my views(this coming from a very left wing guy myself). Suit up, shoot 3's and rebound. Talk all you want. There are many different faiths/religions in an NBA locker room too, some players gather and pray together...others don't. No big deal. I see similarities there.


I'd be more concerned with having simply "bad people" on my favorite team than an outspoken political lobbyist. I suppose it's possible that my lack of faith in politics in general has rendered me apathetic on this subject.

It'd probably stir up more trouble here on a message board than in an NBA locker room, and for that reason I'll move on. Looks like Hawes is off the market now anyway.

Back to sports...

I think a big part of it though is the player. If it were Lebron, I'd risk someone whose outspokenness might be divisive in a locker room. But I'd think long and hard before I'd take that risk with a marginal player. Hawes is pretty much a marginal player IMO, so I see no need to take that risk.

Steve

 

[sunsfan88]

You missed the point. It really isn't about his politics. He's a conservative Republican AND he's outspoken. It's the outspoken part that is the big concern. Granted I'm also not thrilled with his "toilet paper with Obama's face" as I don't like it when people fail to respect the Presidency but my concern would be more about his impact on the locker room. I don't know that it would keep me from bringing him in but it would be a concern.

Steve

Other than the toilet paper thing, has he done anything "outspoken" regarding politics?

Could it be that he did it as a joke?

I highly doubt that Hawes goes around locker rooms picking fights with teammates who don't support what he supports. Vice versa I doubt other players give a poop about whether he's a democrat or republican and if he's a proud loud supporter. Their here to play basketball, they don't care if their teammate is a loud spoken democrat or republican.

 

[sunsfan88]

His timing is really quite bad. He most likely would have gotten along swimmingly with Donald Sterling.

Please tell me your joking. Because if that seriously is your impression of Republicans then you really are uneducated.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Well its not just tax policy that he has a problem with. The dude is a hate spewing right wing Ann Coulter loving PR machine who goes public on everything from climate change to health care. https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-...n-it--according-to-evan-turner-020442224.html



Sounds like he would fit right in as a candidate for Arizona Governor. But if he joins the Suns, his PR will likely join forces with other clowns that have given Arizona a bad name and become a distraction for the basketball team. I say no thanks.

So a player's political views determine whether he can play here or not?

Or is it that you can speak up on politics but only if your position is left not right?

If he had George Bush toilet paper would it be ok?

Seriously.

 

[elindholm]

So a player's political views determine whether he can play here or not?

Or is it that you can speak up on politics but only if your position is left not right?

If he had George Bush toilet paper would it be ok?

Seriously.

The point he's making is that an argumentative extremist on either side of the political divide is likely to make some teammates uncomfortable. If you want to go the other direction, you can note that most players would be fine with a gay teammate (or at least say they would be), but many fewer would tolerate an "in your face" gay teammate who was constantly hitting on them, trying to get them to go to gay pride rallies, bombarding them with propaganda for pro-gay political candidates, etc.

 

[Superbone]

Please tell me your joking. Because if that seriously is your impression of Republicans then you really are uneducated.

Yes, I was joking.

 

[KloD]

So a player's political views determine whether he can play here or not?

Or is it that you can speak up on politics but only if your position is left not right?

If he had George Bush toilet paper would it be ok?

Seriously.

You missed the point. He happens to be far to the right, but I wouldn't want someone far to the left either if they were as outspoken as Hawes. Politics are divisive, they have no place in the office or the locker room. It doesn't matter the position my co-worker had, I have no desire to hear it in a professional environment. especially one where team chemistry is vastly important. People take their political views to heart. Most have very strong reasons for the positions they take. JMO, but I believe ones religious beliefs and political beliefs are personal and I wouldn't bash Bush anymore than I want ti hear someone do the same with Obama in my place of work. If they have a friendship outside of the locker room and want to talk about it at their homes or in a bar, great. But he's the type that makes his views known to many around him. No thanks!

 

[sunsfan88]

I thought this was an interesting and truthful paragraph from the Yahoo! article link posted above

Whatever you might think about Hawes' choice of a goof, it is nice that Turner — whom the president shouted out during a March 2010 speech in Ohio, where Turner played college ball at Ohio State and won National Player of the Year honors before the Sixers made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft — responded with an "lol" and kept it moving. See? We don't all have to have the same political feelings and opinions to get along as friends, teammates and on-court collaborators. Basketball can serve as a bipartisan promoter of brotherhood, no matter what brand of novelty one-ply might try to separate us.

 

[SweetD]

Keep the politics out of this forum and move it to P&R.