The Phoenix Suns’ issues with racism don’t end with ousted owner Robert Sarver in the eyes of former NBA star Lamar Odom.
Odom, a two-time NBA champ with the Lakers, recently joined “The Bootleg Kev Podcast,” hosted by hip-hop on-air personality and host Bootleg Kev, a Suns fan who noted that his favorite NBA team has been dealing with “the cheapest owner in basketball,” referencing the disgraced Sarver.
Then things took a turn.
“I feel bad for the Suns fans because they ain’t even gonna get what y’all probably deserve until, probably until you change the mascot,” Odom said.
Bootleg Kev replied, “What does that mean? You don’t like the gorilla? Do you think there’s some racial connotations with the Suns gorilla?”
Odom, making a face, answered, “Come on, bro,” then expounded upon his reasons.
Lamar Odom watches Lakers vs. Pelicans on November 2, 2022.Getty Images
Go The Gorilla, poses at 2022 Waste Management Open.US PGA TOUR“The thing that’s funny is they kind of slid that one by for all these years,” Odom said. “Nobody says anything about that.
“Gorillas, in the desert, you can’t find any. You could probably find a cactus. … In basketball, just like, come on, bro. But you know what’s so, really crazy about it? They just tried it because they wanted to get the fans involved, and that’s the reason why they kept it ’cause the fans loved it.”
Then Odom pointed out that Arizona was the last state to formally recognize Martin Luther King Day as a holiday, which it didn’t do until 1992, nine years after his birthday was approved as a federal holiday.
As for the mascot, its roots trace to 1980 when a man working for a telegram service was hired to wear a gorilla suit to a Suns game. With no official mascot for the organization’s first 12 years, the gorilla stuck.
