Trump’s executive order has many in the sports world worried
While Milwaukee Bucks see a lot of promise in its rookie first-round pick Thon Maker, the more pressing issue is his immediate future – not on the team but in the country.
President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on non-American citizens from seven Muslim countries could affect the 19-year-old 7-foot-1 center.
Sudan is one of those countries. Maker was born in Wau, Sudan (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen are the other six).
And, of course, the Bucks just happened to be returning from playing at Toronto on Friday, just as U.S. Customs and Border Protection notified airlines about passengers whose visas had been cancelled.
WKTY poll: Are you surprised how much Trump’s executive order ban on immigration/travel from 7 countries has affected the sports world.
— 580 WKTY (@wkty) January 30, 2017
While Maker was born in Sudan, he is also an Australian citizen – he moved there with his family in 2002 – and uses an Australian passport, according to ESPN.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd confirmed, however, that Maker had made it back into the country without incident.
Maker made his second career start Saturday in a 112-108 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics, in which Kidd said, “He gave us energy, and I thought he changed the game in the second half.”
“He gave us energy, and I thought he changed the game in the second half.” –
Coach Kidd on Thon Maker#OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/SESnlakNZX— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 30, 2017
Bucks senior vice president Alexander Lasry, whose father, Bucks owner Marc Lasry, emigrated from Morocco, posted a series of messages on Twitter in 
support of Maker (pic right).
Other players in multiple sports are showing concern about the ban, including gold medalist Mo Farah, a Somali-born runner who expressed concern over the ban.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Luol Deng is in the same boat as both Farha and Maker. Deng was born in Wau, Sudan, but also has has dual citizenship. Like Farha, he became a British citizen in 2006.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass issued a statement Saturday concerning the travel ban: “We have reached out to the State Department and are in the process of gathering information to understand how this executive order would apply to players in our league who are from one of the impacted countries. The NBA is a global league, and we are proud to attract the very best players from around the world.”
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was very emotional sharing his thoughts on the ban.
Steve Kerr gives his candid thoughts on the Muslim Ban. pic.twitter.com/ex1CI7Ob3d
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 30, 2017
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team’s roster currently includes five international players, said this about Trump’s executive order:
“As you already know, I have lots of thoughts about what we’ve done to ourselves as a country and what we’ve allowed to happen,” Popovich told reporters. “But we’ll see where this goes. Obviously the roll-out today was Keystone Kops-like by any measure with objectivity. Whether you want to say it’s good or bad is irrelevant. But it was Keystone Kops, and that’s scary.”