discriminated against by his US basketball team because he is Iranian, state broadcasting said Saturday.
The broadcaster said it was quoting Haddadi’s brother, Ahmed, who lives in Ahvaz. “During our recent conversations, Hamed has more than once complained that he is deprived of privileges because he is Iranian,” state broadcasting quoted Ahmed as saying.
The Iran Times contacted Haddadi’s team, the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. Within hours on Christmas Day, the Grizzlies spokesman forwarded by email a direct quote from Haddadi: “The Iranian-based media report is 100 percent false and couldn’t be further from the truth,” Haddadi said.
State broadcasting, including PressTV, its English-language outlet, quoted Ahmad Haddadi as saying his brother “has to pay for anything within the club” while other players get the same materials for free. “For instance, the Spanish player does not pay a dime for his purchases.”
Of the 13 players on the Memphis roster this year, 11 are Americans, Haddadi is the sole Iranian in the entire NBA and Marc Gasol is a Spanish national.
Gasol is the starting center for the Grizzlies. Hasheem Thabeet is the backup center and Haddadi is the third-string center, although late in the last season Haddadi was briefly the backup center.
Ahmed was quoted as saying, “Even with his three-year contract with Memphis, he hasn’t been allowed to play for the team as much as he did last year.”
That is true. Haddadi has appeared in only seven of the team’s 30 games so far this year for an average of just 3.1 minutes in each of those games. Thabeet has seen action in 22 games.
Memphis is currently 11th of the 15 teams in the NBA Western Conference with 13 wins and 17 losses.
