Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: “Allen flew to Washington after the game with Steve Pagliuca aboard the Celtics managing partner’s private plane. ‘To be able to be there and document it, to take pictures, to be able to talk about it . . . it’s one of those events where it’s one thing to see it on TV, but to be there on the ground and talk about exactly everything’s that happened, at least I’m glad that one of us will be in the presence of this event,’ Allen said. The rest of the C’s changed their plans and will fly to Miami at 8 this morning so they can be at their hotel to watch Obama’s speech. Coach Doc Rivers generally likes to talk to his players about off-court matters of importance, but this time he will let the event speak for itself.”
A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive.com: “The Detroit Pistons are making their own history as the only NBA franchise with a pair of African-Americans in the top positions within the day-to-day operations of the team: president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and vice president Scott Perry. Dumars, who was hired by Pistons owner Bill Davidson to handle the basketball operations in 2000, does not shy from the responsibility he feels as an African-American in his current position. ‘Every day I wake up and walk out of my house I know who I am,’ Dumars said. ‘And I know that I represent a lot of people. I feel it’s incumbent that you do it the right way, with class and respect for those who came before me and will come after me.’”
Sekou K Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “A bus mishap forced the Hawks to scrap their plans to watch the inauguration from a conference room at their downtown hotel. But someone at the United Center must have known how important the occasion was for Hawks coach Mike Woodson and his team. The Hawks ended up watching the entire affair on the Jumbotron at the arena. ‘It was unreal,’ Hawks VP of PR Arthur Triche said. ‘It was like the next best thing to actually being in Washington.’ Woodson gave a short but moving speech before Monday’s game about the significance of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his day but also about the importance of what was to come earlier today. ‘I feel it is important for not only our guys but everyone to reflect on the things that happen in life and be grateful for the things we have,’ Woodson said.”
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “Coach Terry Porter gave the team Tuesday off after four games in five days but also to set up a room at their team hotel for staff and players to watch Barack Obama’s inauguration.‘To have an African-American in the White House, I never thought that would happen,’ Porter said. ‘To have that come to fruition, I’m just proud of this country. This guy’s got tougher challenges than I’ve got.’”
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “For the record, Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said there are more important things in life than basketball. Thus, the workaholic son of a coach changed his team’s practice schedule to accommodate all-star C Dwight Howard’s trip to Washington, D.C., for Barack Obama’s inauguration today. Howard received an invitation from the Obama team and was expected to leave Orlando by private jet with his cousin. ‘There are actually some things bigger than basketball,’ Van Gundy said Monday at RDV Sportsplex.”
Branson Wright of The Plain Dealer: NBA great Bill Walton has thoughts on the Inauguration
Dave “Large” Larzelere of the Sporting News: “Given that Obama is a child of mixed-race parentage and the first person of color to hold the highest of American offices, it seems fitting indeed that B-ball is his game, this sport that among other things has evolved into a symbol of hope to impoverished African Americans across the nation as a ticket to college and in some rare cases unimaginable wealth. That Obama, a symbol in and of himself of the profoundest hope, should be by all accounts a dedicated pick-up basketball player, well, it’s so appropriate that it couldn’t have been scripted better in a Hollywood screenplay.”
Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe: “Obama’s hoop highlights are huge on the worldwide web. There’s a much-watched Barack o-Balla YouTube video with snippets of the President-elect’s basketball career. A company called KD Productions is selling a limited-edition souvenir Inaugural Ball mini basketball on its website. There’s a Baller-in-Chief.com site. Nothing but net on the net. It goes back to his youth. The President-elect’s most vivid memory of his absent father is when his dad gave him a basketball for Christmas when he was 10 years old in 1971. The man who will be the 44th president was nicknamed Barry O’Bomber when he was a benchwarmer for Punahou’s state championship high school team in Hawaii in 1979. Never a starter, always looking for more playing time, Barry scored 2 points off the bench at the end of the state-final blowout. That was the end of his formal basketball career, but he never stopped playing.”
Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times: “‘It’s very exciting knowing I was a part of that,’ said Portland center Greg Oden, who turns 21 on Thursday, and cast his first presidential vote in 2008 via absentee ballot. Oden and his NBA peers personify Obama’s appeal to youth. A vocal group that used the Internet to drum up interest and voice opinion, like when Oden posted a blog about his conversation with then-Senator Obama, stating ‘I really support his plan with education, civil rights, and health care,’ noting that he plans to finish college at Ohio State. New Orleans guard Chris Paul wrote ‘Obama!’ on his signature sneakers. Cleveland forward LeBron James wore Obama T-shirts to arenas. And the NBA offered its services to be sure a possible White House court is regulation size. ‘[That] generation of people is the ones that are the change,’ Portland coach Nate McMillan said. ‘They have more of an open mind to things in this country. … To vote in Obama and have that change, I never thought [possible] in my lifetime.’”
John Canzano of The Oregonian: “A government can be socially responsible. So can a business. So must people. Woods and James spent the first phase of their careers withdrawing and minimizing their footprint. It’s why I was surprised and pleased when Blazers rookie Greg Oden went public with his support of Obama. I didn’t care who Oden was voting for or why. I just cared that he cared about something other than basketball because I’d become so accustomed to watching athletes check with their agent, publicist and sneaker company before answering a question. This week becomes significant because you have a generation of young athletes watching Woods and James and believing, ‘That’s the way to do it.’ They’ve finally stopped serving milquetoast at the training table, and in its place are men demonstrating genuine thought and authentic leadership.”
The Houston Chronicle: “Hall of Fame coach John Thompson calls it ‘the greatest thing to happen to African-Americans since the Emancipation Proclamation,’ and there’s no way he’s going to miss it. ‘It hasn’t been able to seep in,’ the longtime Georgetown college basketball coach told the Associated Press. ‘I will have tears in my eyes when that boy raises his hand.’ From Tiger Woods to Muhammad Ali, Dave Winfield to the Rockets’ Dikembe Mutombo, a sports world that has paid more attention to politics than usual the last few months wants to be part of the party when Barack Obama is inaugurated as the nation’s first black president on Tuesday. ‘The Emancipation Proclamation freed our bodies,’ said Thompson, referring to Abraham Lincoln’s landmark document that sought to free slaves in the rebellious South in 1863. ‘This emancipation frees our minds to know there’s no limits as to what you can accomplish. Sometimes the mental incarceration is worse than the physical.’”
Via NESW Sports:
