A little more than week ago, Clippers broadcasters Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith made news for the wrong reason: the pair teamed up on some weird, insensitive comments directed toward Iranian player Hamed Haddadi of the Grizzlies. Smith likened Haddadi, the league's first player from the Islamic republic, to the Sacha Baron Cohen character "Borat," and Lawler expressed shock that Iran could produce an NBA player.Lawler (who has worked some 2,000 games for the franchise) and Smith were suspended for one game after an Iranian fan contacted the team and several Southern California news agencies, including the Los Angeles Times, which did a fairly detailed story on the comments. But over the weekend, as the Grizzlies visited L.A., Lawler and Smith met with Haddadi to clear the air.
Jim Peltz of the Times reports that the broadcasters reached out to Haddadi's manager to set up a meeting for the Grizzlies' visit to Staples Center on Sunday. The pair apologized for having offended him or any Iranian fans, and Lawler told Haddadi that he and Smith "care about" the center.
Ironically, perhaps, Sunday was Iranian Heritage Night at Staples, no doubt tied to Haddadi's appearance.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Your post is really good. Thanks for sharing. I really appriciate it.
Regards,
Jacob - dr hulda clark
Mr hadadi hang in there ,and show the world that you are from Iran(persia)
and you can make it happen .There are going to be alot of hard time along the way but you are an Iranian,that should say something........Good luck.....