This afternoon in Beijing (or 5-7AM ET), after being ahead by an average of 10 points for most of the game, China let their lead slip away and were forced into an overtime with Spain. After that it was all Spain, ending with the Chinese team missing several desperation shots in the closing seconds. Final score: 85-75. This was possibly one of the hottest matches yet, but people in the United States could only watch it live online. China is now 0-2 in the preliminary round, but still has a chance to make the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, a picture of Spain’s basketball team that was leaked on Sunday is causing some controversy.
Every member of the team posed “slanty-eyed”! So far there haven’t been any noticable implications, but it may ultimately ruin Spain’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics, which Chicago is also bidding for. It’s just another addition to Spain’s recent history of racism in sporting events.
Update: The game was available in the U.S. on the Olympic Basketball channel(Satellite/Digital Cable). Spain hosted the 1992 Olympics just fine, but times have changed and Spain now has one of the highest immigration rates in Europe. It remains to be seen if Spain gets to host the 2016 Olympics whether or not there would be racism there, but as the saying goes, a few rotten apples can spoil the bunch.
Update 2: The Spanish Basketball Federation has released a statement. Pau Gasol has offered an apology to anyone who feels offended by the picture. Gasol also says it was a “a bad idea” and that it wasn’t intended to be offensive or racist.