Remember Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf? Still Playing (Now in Japan), Still Doing It His Way

Costanza

Costanza

Rising Star
Registered
Former NBA star Abdul-Rauf has kept the faith
By JIM ARMSTRONG, AP Sports Writer Apr 3

OSAKA, Japan (AP)—Two important things haven’t changed for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in the 14 years since he set off a firestorm of criticism by refusing to stand for the national anthem before NBA games.

He’s still a devout Muslim and playing basketball.

Abdul-Rauf is now in Japan, the latest stop of a globe-trotting career that became necessary in the aftermath of being booed, inundated with hate mail and suspended by the NBA for refusing to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” in March 1996.

“It was close to impossible to play in the U.S. after that,” Abdul-Rauf said. “The doors were shut, but I said the NBA wasn’t the only show in town and I was going to make use of my God-given talent even if it meant playing in Timbuktu.”

He has found his latest refuge in Japan’s fledgling professional league, where he is settling in with the expansion Kyoto Hannaryz as the highest-profile player in the league’s five-year history.

Kyoto’s 14-26 record and two recent losses to the three-time champion Osaka Evessa underscore the challenges Abdul-Rauf and his teammates face.

“Whether things are going well for us or not it’s just a question of being consistent, constantly chipping away and not allowing others to dictate what we do,” he said.

The 41-year-old guard has certainly shown the willingness to stand up to those who would impose their will on his.

Abdul-Rauf, then known as Chris Jackson, was a two-time All-American at Louisiana State University before being taken third overall in the 1990 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets. He converted to Islam a year later.

“I had a lot of questions with my Christian background while growing up,” Abdul-Rauf said. “I felt like I was being someone I wasn’t meant to be.”

Abdul-Rauf was consistently among the Nuggets’ best players, and narrowly missed setting an NBA record for free-throw percentage when he shot 95.6 percent during the 1993-94 campaign.

He was having his best season in 1995-96, averaging 19.2 points and 6.8 assists per game, when his career changed forever after he stopped standing for the national anthem, saying it conflicted with his Muslim beliefs.

The Denver media picked up on it and when the team played at Chicago in March, fans booed and jeered him, and the scrutiny of his actions intensified.

The NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf—the ban lasting only one game after he and the league reached a compromise that allowed him to stand but close his eyes and pray during the playing of the anthem.

That did little to satisfy those who questioned his patriotism.

Abdul-Rauf was traded to Sacramento in the offseason and played for the Kings for two seasons. He then played in Turkey in 1998-99 before returning for his final NBA season with Vancouver in 2000-01. The anthem stance seemingly taken a toll as his numbers declined each of his final three years in the league, and he never quite lived up to the expectations of being a No. 3 pick.

Since then, the native of Gulfport, Mississippi, has been inactive or played overseas, with stops in Russia, Italy, Greece and Saudi Arabia. Being abroad seems to suit him just fine.

“I feel like I could live anywhere, not necessarily in the States,” Abdul-Rauf said. “I’m the type of person who could pick up his bags and go live anywhere and I’m not going to miss anything.”

His current one-year contract with Kyoto came about when the team’s coach, former NBA player David Benoit, called to say he’d like to have Abdul-Rauf on the team.

Benoit played against Abdul-Rauf both in college and the NBA and knew the veteran would bring a lot to the expansion team.

“His experience is the most important thing,” Benoit said. “He wants to go out and play ball like he did a few years back and it’s exciting to see a guy his age still do it. Like any other player, he has lapses, but his experience is the main thing, not only for the younger Americans coming here to play but for the younger Japanese too.”

After a hamstring injury early in the season, Abdul-Rauf is settling in, averaging 16 points a game for Hannaryz.

“I love Kyoto, the people are wonderful and I’m not just saying that. I’m a person who speaks his mind and I’m really enjoying it,” Abdul-Rauf said.

The league is also enjoying that Abdul-Rauf is bringing it some much-needed attention.

“Abdul-Rauf is a guy that demands respect because of everything he has accomplished on the basketball court,” Osaka forward Lynn Washington said. “The play of ex-NBA players is needed in this league as the sport becomes more popular in Japan.”

Abdul-Rauf’s teammates are the ones who are benefiting the most.

“I just try to learn as much as possible from him,” said Kyoto’s Sunao Murakami. “I watch him closely every game and feel so lucky to be on the same team. He’s the best player in the league and that’s impressive given he is 41.”

As for the future, Abdul-Rauf says he wants to go into coaching when his playing days are over.

“I’ll play as long as God gives me the ability and the strength,” said Abdul-Rauf, who lives in Atlanta in the offseason. “Right now I have my health and am still competitive. So as long as I have the combination of those two things I will still play and afterward, I’ll look to coach.”

One thing Abdul-Rauf knows for sure, he’ll continue to practice his faith.

“I have no regrets (about converting to Islam),” he said. “It was the best decision I ever made in my whole life. It’s a great gift.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-abdul-raufstillplaying

Main board thread: http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=484959
 
March 21, 1996
Abdul-Rauf Is Calm In Face of Controversy
By JASON DIAMOS

SECAUCUS, N.J., March 20— It's been a struggle," Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf said. "But it's been a beautiful struggle. In what I did, I had no personal gain. I had no personal reasons, no selfish reasons for doing it. I knew that what I did wasn't wrong."

Instead, Abdul-Rauf said in an interview today, his refusal to stand for the national anthem last week was something he had to do based upon his understanding of his religion at the time. That explains why this devout man, who converted to Islam five years ago, would not be shaken by the nationwide debate surrounding his actions.

Fortified is more like it.

The first thing that strikes you about Abdul-Rauf is not the constant involuntary twitching caused by Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder. It is not his outspoken opinions about patriotism.

It is his frailty.

Soft-spoken and sinewy, he is a 6-foot-1-inch, 162-pound point guard who makes his living in a domain of giants. It is as if by sheer will alone he has risen from poverty while growing up in Mississippi to succeed in the National Basketball Association.

Abdul-Rauf spoke of his beliefs at a hotel here after practice with his team, the Denver Nuggets, in North Bergen.

Last Tuesday, Abdul-Rauf was suspended by the league for those beliefs. The suspension was lifted after one game, when Abdul-Rauf agreed to abide by a league rule that requires players to stand for the anthem without, he said, compromising his beliefs. He now chooses to pray to himself while standing, something he will do Thursday night at Continental Arena, where the Nets will be host to the Nuggets.

"Of course you hear things," Abdul-Rauf said of the outcry that has ensued over his beliefs. "I have to hold back and say I can't take it personally. I can't get mad at this individual and want to tell him off. What's going to be solved?"

Abdul-Rauf has heard plenty. He pointed to a recent radio talk show on which a caller said he had felt initial anger toward Abdul-Rauf. "Then he said, 'I had a couple of days to think about it. And you know, this is supposed to be a free country. With freedom of choice.' And he said, 'I might not have done it that way, but he's not wrong for doing this. I don't really blame him for it.' "

In general, Abdul-Rauf said, the response has been mixed.

"I just hope that this can be something that will cause people to look into issues more," he said. "I appreciate what I hear, when I heard, for instance, Charles Barkley. At first, when he got on television, he said, 'Well, I would like to hear Mahmoud's side.' Because sometimes we hear one side and we jump to conclusions without knowing that individual or what he stands for. Not what kind of person he is. And then, when it's too late, sometimes you can already have damaged a person unjustly. I think when you're dealing with an issue, get both sides, get all of what's going on and deal with it."

The same holds true for Abdul-Rauf. He admitted today that the uproar has caused him to take a deeper look at his country and his religion.

"It has made me realize more how, whether you want to use the word hypocritical or backwards, sometimes we are," he said.

"And it just confirmed what I believed was happening. It didn't surprise me. You just have to continue to deal with it and hopefully something good comes out of it."

Abdul-Rauf said he has always asked many questions. The search for answers included reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" at Louisiana State University, where he was known as Chris Jackson, and is what finally brought him to Islam.

The same search led him to counsel with prominent Muslim friends when the N.B.A. handed down its suspension. The decision to go back to work had nothing to do with money, he said, but was based on a better understanding of the situation.

"My understanding wasn't incorrect," Abdul-Rauf said. "It's just that my approach in the situation wasn't the best approach.

"This has definitely strengthened my beliefs, made me stronger, I feel. I in no way intended for it be a public issue. But when it came out like it did, I was forced to deal with it. And in dealing with it, it caused me to reflect more, to think more."

Abdul-Rauf was asked if he worried about reprisals by those who do not share his views.

"I'm not worried, no," he said. "But you have to be concerned, if you understand what I'm saying. I have to be aware because you have sick people out there."

Abdul-Rauf said he hoped that people would consider his point of view, as he said he considers theirs.

"I understand sometimes people view the flag as a sacred ceremony," he said. "People fought for this country under the banner. I understand that. You've got to understand that I've got to deal with myself every day. The good and the bad. I just felt in my heart that if I can't do something, and as a Muslim we try to perfect whatever it is that we do, if I couldn't stand, if I couldn't do it 100 percent, I felt don't do it at all."

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/21/s...nce/Times Topics/Subjects/A/Anthems, National
 
March 24, 1996
Charges Are Filed In Mosque Incident
AP

DENVER, March 23— Four radio station employees who engineered an on-air stunt involving barging into a mosque and blaring the national anthem have been charged with misdemeanors, but Muslim leaders say they want more serious penalties.

The authorities said Joey Teehan, a producer for KBPI radio, and William Jones, a sound engineer, walked into the Colorado Islamic Center on Tuesday playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a trumpet and bugle.

Mr. Teehan wore a turban and a T-shirt depicting Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the Denver Nuggets basketball star who recently refused to stand during the pre-game national anthem.

Mr. Teehan and Mr. Jones were charged on Friday with unlawful conduct on public property and disorderly conduct with unreasonable noise in a public place.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/24/us/charges-are-filed-in-mosque-incident.html
 
Upgrade Dave said:
I read the article on Yahoo! and then made the mistake of reading the Comments. Real disrespectful.
Click to expand...
Idiots get real bold online, I almost never read comments because they're tough to take seriously and seldom shed any light on any issue.

But you know what the reaction to anything deemed "unpatriotic" will be, no matter how sound the reasoning.
 
Costanza said:
Idiots get real bold online, I almost never read comments because they're tough to take seriously and seldom shed any light on any issue.

But you know what the reaction to anything deemed "unpatriotic" will be, no matter how sound the reasoning.
Click to expand...

I know and I completely agree.

The ones pointed the "unpatriotic" finger usually end up the same ones talking about "taking the country back" or cheering Texas secession. I don't remember sedition being considered patriotic.
 
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