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NBA sits on Denver's Abdul-Rauf's rights

It is old news by now that Denver Nuggets' point guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refused to salute the flag during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the first 60 games of the season.

Sometimes he'd lurk back in the lockerroom. Sometimes he'd even stand, turning away from the American flag.

But it wasn't until Wednesday, after Denver talk shows started to make Abdul-Rauf's conscientious objection one of the hottest media topics in the country, that the NBA decide to abuse his First Amendment rights.

Abdul-Rauf changed his name from Chris Jackson five years ago, shortly after converting to Islam. He was suspended indefinitely without pay for not abiding to a league rule that says players, coaches and support staff "must stand in a dignified posture" during the national anthem.

Forget for a moment that the NBA, more conscious of its image than any other professional sports league, disregarded every player who chews gum, whispers, or jostles with teammates.

The league yanked out from under Abdul-Rauf his freedom of expression, the single most important right we have in this country.

As a journalist, I am deeply offended. As an American, I am outraged. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1943 that a West Virginia statute requiring students to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance was illegal to enforce.

Of course, the NBA is a private institution, and it can make its own rules and bylaws, even if these regulations trample on the rights of others.

Abdul-Rauf may have had a case in court, but the issue is really more relevant to the mind than to the law.

"It really is more of an ethical issue," University communications studies lecturer Joan Lowenstein says, "because the consequences aren't clear according to the law.

"The NBA is like an all-encompassing quasi-government, and lawsuits have been brought against such institutions in similar circumstances in the past."

The suspension is horribly similar to the International Olympic Committee's decision in 1968 to strip American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith of their medals for raising gloved fists in support of black empowerment on the medal stand in Mexico City.

If Abdul-Rauf continued to forfeit his $31,707 a game and filed a case in court, it probably would have been on the basis of the federal statute that prohibits private as well as public bodies to discriminate on the basis of religion.

But in Colorado -- a conservative state where the commander of the Colorado American Legion was quoted as saying Abdul-Rauf's actions were "tantamount to treason" and that he should renounce his citizenship -- Abdul-Rauf's case probably wouldn't fly in the courtroom.

But you know, that's not even the point. Legally, the NBA might be able to get away with ignoring the Constitution, but it should have enough decency not to.

Fans criticize Abdul-Rauf for not being patriotic, for not saluting the American flag. Critics wish he would pay homage to his country and respect a nation that allows him great freedoms.

The beauty of this country is that its citizens have the right to both think and speak freely -- whether it is in accordance with majority opinion or not.

Dismissing others' thoughts or modes of expression as extreme just because you do not feel the same way is both pompous and oppressive.

The United States is the greatest nation on Earth because of the liberties granted to its citizens. We have freedoms of political and religious expression without fear of punishment -- unless, of course, you play professional basketball.

While others in McNichols Arena stand in recognition of such freedoms, Abdul-Rauf is exercising his. Abdul-Rauf said his religion forbade him from standing during the national anthem. He called the American flag "a symbol of oppression and tyranny" -- something that incensed many Americans.

But that is not a plausible reason to forbid him from expressing himself.

When Abdul-Rauf was suspended, he said he was prepared not to play another game of professional basketball. Friday, he changed his mind, agreeing to stand and pray silently during the "Star Spangled Banner," which he did, his hands cupped over his face, before a 108-87 loss to Chicago that night.

Bulls fans jeered and berated him.

Now if that's not un-American, I don't know what is.