There are some athletes who can't be bought. Some athletes who refuse to become commodities, valuing their humanity more than their wallets. Then there is the Spanish national basketball team. Spain's team, which includes NBA stars like Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon, is embroiled in a controversy that has managed to be both racist and juvenile--and all the result of orders from one of their sponsors.

The photo that's rocking the Olympics shows all fifteen members of the Spanish team, pulling back their eyes into a slit-eyed pose meant to mock Asians. They are also all giggling like four-year-olds after someone makes a fart joke.

Even worse, it was all done on their sponsor's orders. Not only did all fifteen players think this was a smashing idea, but the Spanish courier company Seur paid for it and has been running it in Spanish newspapers.

Gasol's apology was about as weak as his rebounding. "It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way," said Gasol. "I'm sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive." He later called the allegation that the pose was racist, "absurd."

He also said, "It was supposed to be a picture that inspired the Olympic spirit." If he means the Olympic spirit as it existed under the late IOC President "Slavery" Avery Brundage--who had a thing for Nazis--then maybe Gasol has a point. Even worse was one of my favorite players, Jose Calderon, the point guard of the Toronto Raptors, who wrote on his blog, "We thought it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as somewhat loving." Calderon also wrote, "Some of my best friends in Toronto are of Chinese origin." Yikes. In proof that there might not be such a thing as karma, heavily favored Spain then hit the court against China and almost lost, only to win in overtime.

The actions of Spain's team and their sponsor are abhorrent. But an interesting question was raised by US team point guard Jason Kidd. Kidd shook his head after seeing the picture and said that if the US team had pulled such a stunt, "We would've been already thrown out of the Olympics. At least, we wouldn't have been able to come back to the US ....There would be suspensions." As for the Spanish team, Kidd said, "They won't do anything to them. It's a double standard."

Kidd has already been proven correct. If the American--and entirely African American--team had done such a thing, David Stern and the NBA would be front and center trying to mend any and all fences. But the Spanish team is also populated by NBA players, and the NBA has yet to even make any kind of a statement.

The entire incident reveals something beyond the juvenile attitudes of the Spanish players and the noxious marketing plans of some sponsors. It's how all the talk of Olympic spirit and internationalism is a canard, a smoke screen for an ugly nationalism. Whether it's Béla Károlyi calling the Chinese gymnasts "half people" or this latest descent into the muck, this can't make China happy about opening their doors to the world. Somewhere Avery Brundage is smiling.

Comments (50)

1. They are also all giggling like four-year-olds after someone makes a fart joke.

   posted by Dave Zirin on 08/14/2008 @ 10:32am

   Boys will be boys. They do silly things.

   They are not political animals, just basketball players who are used to doing what they are told.

   Next.

   Posted by Benchrest at 08/14/2008 @ 10:45am

2. Happy-That is fun, if you are 12.Try having adult fun.It really is much better.

   Posted by i'm nobody at 08/14/2008 @ 11:33am

3. Hqve the Chinese made any complaints about the Spanish team?

   Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2008 @ 12:13pm

4. '..the late IOC President "Slavery" Avery Brundage' -- Dave Zirin -- The Nation -- 14 August, 2008

   'Slavery Avery, they called Brundage, who along with his associates on the IOC executive committee was thought to have a holier-than-thou attitude about amateurism. … The most glaring example of incipient commercialism in 1960 involved not an American but the German sprinter Armin Hary, a rapscallion individualist who angered the Americans soon after arriving in Rome by refusing to meet with Jesse Owens, the immortal sprinter who had won four gold medals at the 1936 Games in Nazi Berlin and who had come to Rome to write a syndicated column for a Chicago newspaper….In so doing, he became the first Olympic sprinter to take payments under the table for wearing a certain brand of shoes. Or two brands, in this case. There were two major German shoe companies then, Adidas and Puma, and Hary wore Adidas in the race, then ditched those and put on Puma shoes to accept the gold medal.' -- Newsweek -- 26 July, 2008

   Posted by HonestLiberal at 08/14/2008 @ 12:32pm

5. i think THIS will peeve the chinese a little bit more:

   Spain to hear Tibetan lawsuit against Chinese leaders

   Aug 5, 2008

   MADRID (AFP) -- Spain's top criminal court agreed Tuesday to hear a lawsuit from Tibetan rights groups that accuses Chinese leaders of genocide in connection with the unrest that erupted in the region in March.

   The suit was filed on July 9 against seven Chinese leaders, including Defence Minister Liang Guanglie, by the Tibet Support Committee and two other Tibetan groups.

   It was admitted under the principle of "universal competence" adopted by the Spanish judiciary in 2005 and under which Spanish courts can hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity wherever they occur and whatever the nationality of the defendant.

   Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 12:37pm

6. "Racist incidents among fans have waned in French stadiums in recent years, even as they proliferated in other European countries, particularly Germany, Italy and Spain. There, spectators have pelted black athletes with bananas and screeched at them like monkeys. Analysts say this kind of behavior mirrors growing concern about immigration across Europe."

   Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 12:48pm

7. If one is truly concerned about the people of China they would not participate in the Communist Chinese Olympics- period.

   Posted by NoPCZone at 08/14/2008 @ 1:54pm

8. "If one is truly concerned about the people of China they would not participate in the Communist Chinese Olympics- period."

   And, indeed, I am not competing.

   Posted by onthehelm at 08/14/2008 @ 2:45pm

9. HonestLiberal: I llooked at the website that you quoted from. Is it means that Brundage was called <<Slavery>> Brundage because he wanted the athletes to be always amateur and never make any money from professional sports or advertising. But that's a good thing, no?

   Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2008 @ 2:48pm

10. If one is truly concerned about the people of China they would not participate in the Communist Chinese Olympics- period.

    Posted by NoPCZone at 08/14/2008 @ 1:54pm

    and that's what i'm doing.

    NBC = new brothers of communism...

    plus, china* is hardly "communist".

    i'd say more like nasty.

    *the government, that is. as usual, the 97.3% of people pay the price for the idiot's greed.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 3:03pm

11. And, indeed, I am not competing.

    Posted by onthehelm at 08/14/2008 @ 2:45pm

    turn off your t.v.!

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 3:03pm

12. The article assumes a lot, like [1] Spaniards have the same understanding as Americans regarding the gesture, [2] Chinese and Chinese-Americans have the same understanding of the gesture, and [3] Spanish-national NBA players like Pau Gasol have learned enough about American culture to understand that at least some members of the planet (definitely Americans, but elsewhere around the world, who knows?) would take offense to the gesture.

    There are only about 100,000 Chinese-ethnic residents of Spain, a nation of about 45 million. They are a far smaller element of the population than in the USA, particularly in places like California and New York, where certainly American prejudice against Chinese-Americans was fostered. It should be at least questioned, instead of assumed, whether the Spaniards have ever worked up enough emnity at Chinese-Spaniards to come up with well-understood offensive gestures like the one in question.

    And Chinese residents don't seem bothered by the gesture, at least per an article at MSNBC where someone thought to ask Chinese whether they were offended by the Spaniards' gesture, instead of assuming they were.

    Posted by hbridges at 08/14/2008 @ 4:46pm

13. "Boys will be boys" is not an excuse for bad behavior. It was inappropriate and offensive, not just to the Chinese, but to all Asians. And maybe people in Beijing are protesting in the streets over it because they aren't allowed too!

    Posted by Andy143 at 08/14/2008 @ 5:09pm

14. I feel very strongly, both ways.

    The Spanish, evidently, are idiots.

    Their actions reflect badly upon them. Regrets, regrets.

    Now - can we get out of Iraq?

    Posted by gradyjerome at 08/14/2008 @ 5:27pm

15. You do not have to endorse Chinese actions in Tibet, or condone suppression of dissidents to find the Spanish teams actions puerile and distasteful. Would a similar photograph of the Chinese team dressed as the Frito Bandito receive a warm welcome in Madrid?

    Posted by taoiseach at 08/14/2008 @ 5:28pm

16. The doctrine of Universal Competence is a joke! Spanish courts have assumed jurisdiction of not only the world, but also the Solar System, the Milky Way and the Universe. That is heady! Looks like we had better bone up on that Spanish we took in high school. Como se dice "Not guilty?"

    Of course, China, Mongolia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Russia, Liechtenstein, and all the countries of the earth could also adopt the doctrine of Universal Competence, and if the countries can do it, how about counties, cities, municipalities, drainage districts and bar examiners?

    Hey! I have just decided that I have Universal Competence. My claim is as solid as the Spanish claim, and I have about as much chance of hauling those Chinese "criminals" into court as the Spanish do.

    Cheers.

    Posted by jsens at 08/14/2008 @ 5:48pm

17. Ouch, that's embarrassing!

    Posted by habiba at 08/14/2008 @ 5:52pm

18. Give it a rest! You Lefties are so bound up in political correctness, how do you manage to have any fun? Whatever reactions there is, it is up to the good folks in Spain to decide if THAT photo and whatever intent there exists, are kosher or not. Aren't you being a PC Imperialist? Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/14/2008 @ 10:45am

    Yeah! Let's call each other niggers, gooks, waps, Mc's and everything else. And only date within our own race. That sounds like fun!

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/14/2008 @ 6:18pm

19. Posted by Zero at 08/14/2008 @ 6:37pm

    Oh don't get me wrong. I have no problem with the photo. I'm only referring to Happy's constant love to mention the good old days when you could call people racial slurs and no one cared.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/14/2008 @ 6:52pm

20. As a Spaniard, I'm deeply sorry. How do we dare to offend liberal white Americans by making such a fart-joke-like gesture? Shame on us. I'm sorry a thousand times. Spaniards should learn that you should NEVER ofend a left-wing elitist American. We should be more culturally aware and sensitive, like the author of the article. Just a question: Hasn't Mr. Dave thought about the possibility that the gesture in question be not offensive in cultures other than the pseudoliberal, white American one? Oh, fool of me: There are NO other cultures.

    By the way, in Spain we greet illegal immigrants with doctors and the Red Cross, noy handcuffs and scary looking border patrols (or minutemen). We provide them with schooling and free health care. And we don't send any foreigner to the electric chair or keep them in Guantanamo.

    Posted by Aristontoles at 08/14/2008 @ 7:00pm

21. Nothing funnier than a good fart joke.

    Posted by frankgrits at 08/14/2008 @ 7:15pm

    especially negro farts, right?

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 7:41pm

22. Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/14/2008 @ 7:50pm

    Cultural advancement defined as calling each other slurs? Hmm. Curious definition of cultural advancement.

    Let me address the further point. When you insult people saying they are too PC because they don't appreciate the use of the word nigger or spick or kike you are essentially bad mouthing them for not appreciating the use of a racial slur. To THEM that word is a racial slur. Whether it is to YOU doesn't matter. It shows a respect of others. Would you appreciate me walking to your wife on the street and addressing her as a whore whether I meant it as an insult or not?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/14/2008 @ 8:10pm

23. "Being I'm in my 50s',"

    I thought you were in your 40's. I wouldn't have placed you for 40's.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/14/2008 @ 8:10pm

24. Like I have stated before thought I don't personally care about the use of any of these words. Call me nigger all you want I don't give a damn. My point is a respect for others. I was taught to speak respectful to others. Using words like nigger in public forms is not being respectful of others. Now maybe you were taught to disrespect others I don't know I just know how I was taught.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/14/2008 @ 8:12pm

25. I have a great example Zero: I was at work and had just completed a call with a client. I was shaking my head at a comment the guy had made ("How many Puerto Ricans does it take to change a light bulb?") and shared it with my co-workers. One, who I did not know was Puerto Rican, went off for the next couple of minutes. I expressed my disapproval of the comment (I honestly didn't find it funny) but it just shows you how saying something like that can really make you look like a dumbdonkey.

    Posted by yutsano at 08/14/2008 @ 9:07pm

26. the whole point is: tread lightly, when you are walking on something delicate. that's a lesson we can all try to remember.

    Posted by Zero at 08/14/2008 @ 9:12pm

    zero for president!

    oh, that's right. you hate america.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 9:33pm

27. hey cccccccc:

    being our resident mulatto,

    (heheh)

    perhaps you could answer a polemic question.

    you must be familiar with wild cherry's "play that funky music (white boy),

    and so my question is,

    "do you think there will be an adverse to reaction to my version, 'play that bluegrass music (black boy)'"?

    (heheh)

    humans sure are funny.

    (i'm just kidding).

    ((not about humans -- they are nuts -- ,the song)).

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 9:47pm

28. <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

    "The song was inspired by a black audience member who shouted, "Play some funky music, white boy" while they were playing at the 2001 Club. Lead singer Robert Parissi decided they should, and wrote down the phrase on a bar order pad. They later recorded it in Cleveland with a Disco sound. Although the band was concerned about the lyrics, Parissi insisted on keeping them."

    <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

    The song is used at home games for the Washington Redskins (American Football) by a group called "The Funky Four" during breaks in the game. The four members are part of the Redskins band and do a dance routine in the end zone to the tune of "Play That Funky Music". Interesting, while the main chorus of the song is "play that funky music white boy", all members of "The Funky Four" are black.

    <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

    Prince introduced the song in to his concerts in 2006 and continues to play it, usually with someone from the audience invited on stage to sing the lyrics.

    <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 9:47pm

29. Hey, Once I was a r'n'b singer playin'

    in a Funky House Band

    I never had no problems, yeah

    Burnin' down one night stands

    And everything around me, yeah

    Got to stop to feelin' so low And I decided quickly (Yes I did)

    To stroll down and check out the jam band show.....

    Yeah, they was stompin' and grinnin' and shuckin' to the groovin'

    And just when it hit me somebody turned around and shouted

    Play that bluegrass music black boy

    Play that bluegrass music right

    Play that bluegrass music black boy

    Pick up the banjer and play that bluegrass music till you die

    Till you die

    Oh ya, ya

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 9:54pm

30. "nigger" isn't a big deal and it don't bother me one bit.....

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/14/2008 @ 11:50pm

    it don't bother me none, neither!

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 12:27am

31. I'm far less accepting of blacks using Hos for women folks.

    Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/14/2008 @ 11:50pm

    of course.

    everyone knows "cunt" is the proper term.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 12:29am

32. negroes should limit themselves to the use of the term "trollop".

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2008 @ 12:30am

33. Posted by frosty zoom at 08/14/2008 @ 9:47pm

    I think it would play well. Especially in areas like New York and San Francisco.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 04:18am

34. As I said, and CCC confirmed, blacks calling each other "nigger" isn't a big deal and it don't bother me one bit.....but ironically, the male sexist pig that I am, I'm far less accepting of blacks using Hos for women folks. Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/14/2008 @ 11:50pm

    Whoa. Let's not say that I confirmed it as not a big deal. I never said that. I said it doesn't bother ME. What doesn't bother me doesn't mean it doesn't bother others. Probably the black people like my grandmother who experience being called nigger in the most derogatory manners probably wouldn't appreciate someone calling her that.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 04:21am

35. Also even between blacks nigger can be used as an insult. Not as a racial slur but as a class and composure slur. To us a nigger can be someone who is willingly uneducated and going no where. So it is not always "not a big deal." Even between blacks who have worked to achieve a life beyond the ghetto it can be used as an insult to those who commit themselves to not trying to improve themselves or the lot of the black community.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 04:24am

36. Also even between blacks nigger can be used as an insult. Not as a racial slur but as a class and composure slur. To us a nigger can be someone who is willingly uneducated and going no where. So it is not always "not a big deal." Even between blacks who have worked to achieve a life beyond the ghetto it can be used as an insult to those who commit themselves to not trying to improve themselves or the lot of the black community.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 04:24am

    I must say that as an black woman, I use "nigga" as an insult. I personally stopped using the word as a term of endearment years ago. In fact, Chris Rock went into the differences between black folks and "niggas" in his comedy show. I agree wholeheartedly with where he was coming from because that's how I feel. Of course, I don't discriminate with the word. I'll call anyone who acts in an ignorant manner, a "nigga". Black, white, Indian. It doesn't matter to me. If you act like a fool, I will refer to you as such if I'm discussing you/your behavior to a friend.

    Posted by k330k at 08/15/2008 @ 08:08am

37. Posted by k330k at 08/15/2008 @ 08:08am

    Exactly. It's what my mother calls some of our relatives who act like fools.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 12:06pm

38. I'm totally down with the First Amendment, which is why I don't mind the fact that Happy seems to want to toss the word nigger around like it's a beach ball. (although as a woman I am encouraged by the fact that my being called a ho offends you. That means there's hope.)

    But like any freedom, the freedom of speech has consequences if it's misued.

    So, sure, you can call me a nigger if you want. You can even use a megaphone if it makes you feel better.

    But I have a great right. In fact, I knocked my 6'4" 250 pound ex-boyfriend out with it.

    You have been warned....

    Posted by edwriter at 08/15/2008 @ 12:38pm

39. What I resent, to tell you the truth, is that I am NOT allowed to verbalize the same word "nigger"as upstanding blacks do regarding degenerates of their own race! Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/15/2008 @ 1:54pm

    Just like whites use "white trash" to describe those in their own race.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 2:39pm

40. Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/15/2008 @ 3:29pm

    Ever listened to Louis C.K?

    "White trash is the only racial term that no one cares about. You could get the most liberal hippy in the world tell him something happened tosome white trash guy he'd be like "Haha! F--- that guy. White trash loser."

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 3:35pm

41. Happy, did you read everything I said, or did you just stop at one sentence?

    The point I was making, and I'm repeating it again, is that free speech, like every other freedom, has consequences if if's misused.

    Personally, I don't think that ANYONE, no matter what color, should go around using that word. It has only one intent and that is to hurt.

    However, you have to understand that the reason why white folks may be held to a different standard when it comes to the word nigger is because we're not too far removed from a time where when a white man threw that word from his mouth, someone black was about to find themselves beaten, lynched, dragged down a dark road and decapitated, or otherwise denied the humanity that everyone deserves and that black people in this country were denied for so long.

    I still say that if you absolutely want to use that word, feel free. I can't stop you because the First Amendment prevents me from doing so.

    But whatever else you're trying to say to me is going to go in one ear and out the other because with that one word, you've denied me my humanity.

    Posted by edwriter at 08/15/2008 @ 3:38pm

42. Sorry. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I think that in the US you take political correctness too seriously, even when it is not needed. The photo is not surely elegant, neither appropriate, but I don't think it is worth newspaper articles and all this debate. Maybe it's because the race issue is more actual in the USA than it is in Europe? I mean, racial segregation and the civil rights movement left a mark in your culture, but I don't know if it is fair to project your own worldview onto the whole world. It is just a stupid photo.

    Posted by Fletcherjlynd at 08/15/2008 @ 4:53pm

43. Sorry. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I think that in the US you take political correctness too seriously, even when it is not needed.

    Posted by Fletcherjlynd at 08/15/2008 @ 4:53pm

    So polite for someone talking about political correctness. Welcome to the zoo Fletcher. Watch out for the monkey poop.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/15/2008 @ 5:34pm

44. 2HAPPY: I see where you're coming from.It's funny how edwriter isn't understanding your point no matter how hard you try to prove it. Really. I'm telling you, both of you are killing me. Very funny. Anyway, much props on laying out your argument with quotes and such (going all "Mask" on us and shit). I'm not saying that you couldn't. I just don't get to see that side of HAPPY too often. I like that side of HAPPY. Now I might now agree with most of you post but I can respect it when you put it down like that.

    Posted by k330k at 08/16/2008 @ 1:25pm

45. Meant to say "most of your posts"

    Posted by k330k at 08/16/2008 @ 1:27pm

46. What's positive in all this, is both of you are the younger ones....blacks with edwriter's (& Rev. Jackson's) perspective and the hardcore white racists, will be mostly gone by the time you hit middle age.......likely with just tiny fringe elements remaining. Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/16/2008 @ 2:17pm

    I can only hope eh?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/16/2008 @ 2:46pm

47. how odd all this is.

    i wonder if the black squirrels put down the grey ones.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 10:44pm

48. two years, ten months, and twelve days.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/17/2008 @ 12:27am

49. Wow! I didn't know that pointing out free speech and its consequences was such an offense to you Happy.

    I also didn't know that doing so made me a supporter of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. There's a whole lot of folks here in Philly that would be laughing their asses off over that one.

    Now let's review: "What I resent, to tell you the truth, is that I am NOT allowed to verbalize the same word "nigger"as upstanding blacks do regarding degenerates of their own race!" Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/15/2008 @ 1:54pm

    What I'm getting from this, and tell me if I'm wrong, is that you want the right to call black folks niggers if you think that they deserve it. My argument, again, is that you're already allowed to do that under the First Amendment. That amendment says that you can, basically, say any damned thing you want as long as it's not "fire" in a crowded movie theater or anything else that could lead to public disorder.

    Now where I see the disconnect is your wanting to exercise this right without the spectre of getting the shit knocked out of you by one of those black folks that you'd like to call nigger for their actions.

    Somehow Happy, I don't see that happening. I don't think that even JC Watts would allow you to call Jesse Jackson a nigger in his presence.

    And I know that no one under the age of 30 would let you do it.

    As for the point that I was making about why black folks tend to want to defend themselves when white folks let the word "nigger" fly out of their mouths, go to www.philly.com and read the Daily News story that's titled "They just beat us up because of the color of our skin."

    That is, if you can read.

    Posted by edwriter at 08/18/2008 @ 2:07pm

50. i wonder if the black squirrels put down the grey ones.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/16/2008 @ 10:44pm

    Naw. Squirrels don't see color. Hey, what's with the countdown?

    Posted by k330k at 08/18/2008 @ 2:33pm