Quote:One of them has even endorsed Trump's 2016 presidential run.

Travis Waldron
Sports Reporter, The Huffington Post
12/07/2015 12:19 pm ET

In a speech from the Oval Office on Sunday night, President Barack Obama urged Americans to avoid discriminating against Muslims in the wake of last week's shooting in San Bernardino, California.

Quote:"Muslim-Americans are our friends and our neighbors; our co-workers, our sports heroes -- and, yes, they are our men and women in uniform," Obama said.

That drew a response from business mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who questioned the existence of Muslim athletes on Twitter.




Trump might be shocked to learn that America not only has a number of Muslim athletic heroes, but he has also met several of them.
In 2007, for instance, Trump accepted a Muhammad Ali Award at a charity event in Phoenix hosted by the three-time heavyweight champion of the world, who converted to Islam in 1964. Trump even took a picture with The Greatest.


JOHN SHEARER VIA GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump and Muhammad Ali at Ali's Celebrity Fight Night XIII in Phoenix in 2007.
Trump has also been photographed with another former heavyweight champion who converted to Islam. Here he is with Mike Tyson in 1989 -- and though that was 14 years before Tyson became Muslim, Trump appeared at the premiere of a documentary about the boxer well after his conversion. Tyson, in fact, has endorsed Trump's run for president.


RON GALELLA VIA GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump with boxer Mike Tyson (center) and promoter Don King at a charity gala in 1989.
Trump's also been seen with Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA legend who has said he is a Muslim convert.


DAVID DOW VIA GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump and Shaquille O'Neal at a celebrity golf tournament at the Trump National Golf Club in 2007.
Just three months ago, Trump wrote a personal note to NBA Hall of Fame inductee Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the basketball legend penned a scathing editorial about the presidential race.
"You don't have a clue about life," Trump wrote to Jabbar, apparently without a clue that Abdul-Jabbar converted to Islam more than four decades ago. They've been photographed together too, though The Donald has not appeared in pictures with former Miami Dolphins running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar.


RJ CAPAK VIA GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump poses with celebrities, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at an event in New York City.

Trump, a big boxing fan, was also in the audience when Bernard Hopkins fought Félix Trinidad in 2001 in a world middleweight championship bout. Hopkins is Muslim.

And while he might not have been photographed with them, surely Trump is aware of other prominent Muslim athletes. They include NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon, long-time NBA players Rasheed Wallace, Larry Johnson, and Nazr Mohammed, ex-NFL running back and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, and current Denver Broncos defensive back Aqib Talib, a two-time Pro Bowler, just to name a few.

(12-07-2015, 06:25 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Erump never denied they existed.  He just asked which ones Obama was talking about.

(12-07-2015, 06:43 PM)GMDino Wrote: So you think he just wanted the President to spend some time naming names....even though he already knew the names?

(12-07-2015, 08:00 PM)fredtoast Wrote: All joking aside, I wonder what Trump meant when he asked what sport and them accused Obama of profiling.  How would it be "profiling" to mention muslim sports stars?

(12-07-2015, 10:23 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Who actually believes that Obama even knows sports?   He refers to the basketball team in Miami as the Heats.  Have you ever seen him shoot hoops?  He has no clue and it's obvious he was never athletic.

Quote:Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has become the latest public figure to criticise Donald Trump’s proposed on ban Muslims entering the US.

The former heavyweight champion, who converted to Islam in 1964, issued a rare public statement calling on Muslims "to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda".

He insisted the statement was not directly towards Mr Trump but all "presidential candidates proposing to ban Muslim immigration to the United States".

The Republican candidate’s pledge to prevent any Muslim from entering or reentering the US "until Congress can figure out what is going on" has caused outrage around the world.

In a statement released on Tuesday, he claimed a poll by the Center for Security Policy showed 25 per cent of Muslims polled "agreed that violence against  Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad".

But Mr Ali said "true Muslims" knew the violence of Isis went "against the very tenets of our religion".

"I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is", he added.

The billionaire businessman made the call just months after calling Mr Ali his 'friend' in a Facebook post from May alongside a photo of the pari from 2007 when the boxing champion presented Mr Trump with the Muhammd Ali Award for entrepreneurship.





Political leaders in the US and the UK have condemned Mr Trump’s comments with President Barack Obama calling on Americans to reject discrimination in a televised address to the nation on Sunday night.

He said: "Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes".

(12-07-2015, 10:41 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Is appearance important to you?

(12-10-2015, 06:44 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Idk does an avid basketball player who has spent his life on the courts.   Go 2-22 in a shoot around on his own private court?  

Idc if he is a terrible basketball player.   It's the bs that he is some great sportsman and been playing basketball at a high level his whole life.   Just looking at him you can tell he is an awkward athlete when he moves around.  

Could at least respect him if he finally admitted hey we said I was a great basketball player because I was black and it helped me in the polls in 2008.  

(12-10-2015, 06:44 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Idk does an avid basketball player who has spent his life on the courts.   Go 2-22 in a shoot around on his own private court?  

Idc if he is a terrible basketball player.   It's the bs that he is some great sportsman and been playing basketball at a high level his whole life.   Just looking at him you can tell he is an awkward athlete when he moves around.  

Could at least respect him if he finally admitted hey we said I was a great basketball player because I was black and it helped me in the polls in 2008.  

(12-10-2015, 09:16 PM)Rotobeast Wrote: This is the only thing I could find to compare him to another dominate world leader.
http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2014/05/12/vladimir-putin-hockey-game-sochi-video/

I did hear that Kim Jong-un claimed he could smoke Obama on the court though.

(12-10-2015, 10:34 PM)GMDino Wrote: Here's the O playing a little b-ball before he was elected.





Quite frankly he looks so awkward I'm surprised he doesn't hurt himself.  

(12-10-2015, 09:16 PM)Rotobeast Wrote: This is the only thing I could find to compare him to another dominate world leader.
http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2014/05/12/vladimir-putin-hockey-game-sochi-video/

I did hear that Kim Jong-un claimed he could smoke Obama on the court though.

(12-10-2015, 10:31 PM)GMDino Wrote: Its a shame the President keeps bringing up race.  He should be a uniter like you.  

Anyway, I tried to find where Obama claimed to be "some great sportsman and been playing basketball at a high level his whole life" and found an interesting article on how he loved the game but wasn't that great...and it didn't stop him from loving the game.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/president-obamas-basketball-love-affair-has-roots-in-hawaii-high-school-team/2012/06/09/gJQApU2mQV_story.html

Now, its a long article.  And it may have information that goes against you "opinion".  but I'd like you to read it, at your leisure a of course.

I bet you'll be Luvinit  loving it in no time.