Ugh, I’m so sorry, you guys, but I’m really pissed off so we’re going to talk about politics for just a second. Philadelphia 76ers center Spencer Hawes is 24-years old, attended a highly-regarded prep school, and went to the University of Washington. Because he’s 7-foot-1, he’s been able to play basketball his whole life and he parlayed that into being the 10th player selected in the 2007 NBA Draft.
In his 5th season in the NBA, Hawes averaged 9.6 points per game during the lockout-shortened season, while only actually playing in 37 games due to injury. But despite injury, he still collected more than $4 million in salary from the Sixers. Not counting endorsements, Hawes has earned roughly $13,566,963 during his NBA career, and that’s important to note because he thinks we live in a communist country because the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Obamacare.
It’s ironic that Hawes, a millionaire, is complaining about living in a communist country on Twitter, the greatest example of free speech that has ever existed. A lot of people agreed with Hawes’ chain of Tweets, that he posted while taking time out from his basketball camp for children today. And a lot of people disagreed. On the surface, he came across as just another dude mindlessly spouting anti-government rhetoric without actually justifying his argument. Then he made a joke about a bald eagle crying, and it wasn’t funny. Seriously, it was stupid.
I won’t get into my politics because you don’t care about my politics and I hate politics, so it’s a waste of time. I only bring this whole stupid mess up because we often criticize athletes for staying out of politics, but when they do speak up, we jump all over them for expressing their beliefs. I think Hawes is a hypocritical jerk, but I also respect that he’s willing to be himself.
Above all, though, I think the most important thing to take away from today’s news about socialized health care is this…
