One of the first actions of newly elected President Donald Trump in his first week of office was an executive order (which means a decision that directly bypasses congress and the democratic process) to institute an immigration ban on seven countries in Africa and the Middle East:
Iran
Iraq
Libya
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Yemen
Why is this ban relevant to the NBA? Because there are a few active players who are from these countries and have a dual citizenship in these countries.
Although there are no current NBA players from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, there are two NBA players who still have citizenship in the Sudan: Luol Deng and Thon Maker.
Maker and Deng were both born in Sudan. Deng emigrated with his family to England as a kid and Maker emigrated with his family as a teenager to Australia, both hold dual citizenship in each country.
The fact that they still hold citizenship in their home country makes them eligible for the ban but not deportation.
So what scenario could arise in which they could be affected by this ban? A road trip to Toronto to play the Raptors.
Toronto is the only NBA organization that is not located in the United States, which means that if either player traveled for a road game to Toronto they would have a hard time being admitted back into the U.S.
Thankfully the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks have already played in Toronto this season so there is a chance this won’t be a complication at all, unless God forbid this ban is actually in place into the 2017-17 NBA season.
There is a legitimate chance that the Bucks could meet the Raptors in the first round of the NBA Playoffs though which would bring about an interesting quandary if the Bucks would decide not to have rookie forward Thon Maker travel with the team for any road games in the series.
Toronto is currently the 3rd seed in the east at 29-19, a half game behind the Boston Celtics for the No. 2 seed and the Milwaukee Bucks are in 9th place in the east, 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.
There is a very realistic scenario where they meet in the 2 vs. 7 match-up or even 3 vs. 6 match-up in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
Hopefully this situation is nothing more than a hypothetical and hopefully the millions of people affected by this ban in the U.S. and around the world won’t have to suffer through it much longer.
