Shut up and foul

The Washington Post sports page reports on the involvement of certain NBA players in the presidential election. It notes that Obama has the support of star players Lebron James, Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, and Baron Davis. The only McCain supporter the Post could find (it’s unclear how diligently its reporter searched) is Spencer Hawes.

As the Post points out, “the NBA is predominantly African American,” a segment of the population among whom Obama is believed to have roughly 95 percent support. But Etan Thomas (a back-up center for the Washington Wizards best known for a series of fights with the starting center) assures us that the enthusiasm for Obama has less to do with his race than with his views on the economy, health care and education. Thomas, who himself is a “race man” and would probably be at home at Rev. Wright’s church (just as Obama was), finds that Obama “is laying out plans; he’s not talking around the issues; there is a sense that things will be different.” One is tempted to respond, “shut up and foul.”

For a less sophomoric assessment of the election, the Post turned to Wizard star Gilbert Arenas. It found that Arenas, who just signed a six-year contract for $111 million, is unenthusiastic about the prospect of handing over the bulk of that money to the government. “Agent Zero” told the Post:

People get sour-faced when you talk about politics and voting. The first Bush said he wasn’t going to tax nobody. It doesn’t really matter who the president is. They say whatever they need to say to get in office.

Arenas says that he does not intend to vote.

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