Smallwood: Trump's travel ban may affect athletes

IT IS NOT my intent to argue the political, social, legal or moral aspects of President Trump's executive order that suspends entry into the United States for people from a select group of Muslim nations.

Still the world of sports does not operate in a vacuum and it was inevitable that the President's decree would impact it.

Last week, the NBA contacted the State Department to get a better understanding of how the order could affect two of its players.

Los Angeles Lakers veteran forward Luol Deng and Milwaukee Bucks rookie center Thon Maker, were both born in South Sudan.

Sudan, along with Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, is listed as a country whose people have been banned from entering the United States for 90 days.

Deng fled Somalia as a child and has lived in Egypt, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Duke University product became a naturalized citizen of the UK in 2006.

Maker escaped the civil war in Sudan with his younger brother and aunt when he was 5. They were accepted as refugees by Australia in 2002.

Despite their dual citizenship, their connection to Sudan makes makes it unclear as to whether the no-entry clause applies to them.

This would be an issue because NBA players leave the United States when they play games against the Raptors in Toronto. The Bucks were returning from Toronto on Friday when U.S. Customs and Border Protection notified airlines about passengers whose visas were canceled.

Maker, who travels with an Australian passport, returned to Milwaukee without issues.

The NBA wants clarification.

A statement issued by NBA spokesman Mark Bass said, "We have reached out to the State Department and are in the process of gathering information to understand how this executive order would apply to players in our league who are from one of the impacted countries."

Looking ahead, the NBA knows this could become an issue if it becomes permanent policy. After soccer, basketball is the most global team sport and NBA talent comes from all over the world.

Manute Bol, the late Sixers center, was also from the Sudan.

Center Hamed Haddadi, who played six seasons from 2008-2013, was the first citizen of Iran to play in the NBA.

In 2013, University of Oregon forward Arsalan Kazemi became the first player from Iran drafted into the league when the Washington Wizards selected him 54th overall.

The Sixers acquired Kazemi's draft rights, and he played with their Summer League teams in 2013, 2014 and 2015 before his rights were renounced.

He played in a preseason game for the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks in 2015.

"The NBA is a global league and we are proud to attract the very best players from around the world," said Bass.

Major League Soccer has had players who were born and raised in Iran. Players born and raised in America have used dual citizenship to play for Iran and Iraq.

Aravane Rezai, who has dual citizenship in Iran and France, has won four times on the Women's Tennis Association.

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., and the Miami Open are two of the four "premier" WTA tournaments. Both are in March and they offer more prize money and ranking points.

There are players on the men's tour from Iran.

The United States hosts some of the most popular marathons, which attract thousands of runners for all over the world.

The Boston Marathon is April 17 and the application deadline for the New York City is in March.

If there are runners from those seven nations, will the ban prevent them from competing?

These seven nations are not producing many high-profile athletes. I'll concede that it was difficult to find the actual names of more than a few athletes who could be impacted by the travel ban.

Still, this is one of those slippery-slope situations.

There are several predominantly Muslim nations with high-profile athletes that could also be deemed as hostile to the United States.

If the Trump administration decided to expand the list of nations, the number of athletes would grow and some could be recognizable names.

Distance runner Sir Mohamed Farah competes for Great Britain and for the last six years has lived in Portland, Ore.

However, he was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and lived there until he was 8.

Farah, who won gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, is currently in training camp in Ethiopia and has expressed concerns about his ability to return to Oregon in March.

"I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years – working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home," Farah told the British Broadcasting Company. "It's deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children daddy might not be able to come home."

Farah summed up his reaction to the ban on his Facebook page by writing; "On 1 January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27 January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.

"Now me, and many others like me, are being told that we may not be welcome."

This is one of those times when sports has joined the "real" world.

smallwj@phillynews.com

@SmallTerp