sports and politics don't mix

While cruising the realGM basketball page, I came across this article concerning a young Iranina national basketball player with NBA dreams and political obstacles. The situation is an example of the sometimes ugly intersection between sports and politics. The problem comes from a "federal statue prohibit[ing] a person or organization in the US from engaging in business dealings with Iranian nationals." (sports.yahoo.com) Get the specs about the embargo here.

Hamed Ehadadi, the 7'2" 260 lb. center of the Iranian national basketball team, says that it is his dream to play in the NBA.



Why, then, should he not be allowed to do so? The answer lies in US foreign policy from the 80's. I'm not a historian, but I seem to remember reading about some war between Iran and Iraq in the 80's. Something about an ancient land dispute due to white folks coming over and carving lines in sand or something? I dunno...I'm not a historian.

The reason I bring this up, is that these events have nothing to do with basketball, and the fact that this young man was born Iranian seems to be the only reason to keep him from his dream. Sad, really, considering the US is touted as the land of opportunity. Seems that only applies to the children of our friends.

After reading the realGM article, my first thought was "What about the Toronto Raptors?" Would they be able to take a chance on him (as he is realistically considered to be a 'project' by many NBA execs)? Last time I checked, Toronto was located somewhere north of the US-Canadian border. I guess Stern wants to keep some semblance of a level playing field. Ironic.