Australian Member of Parliament Tim Watts has addressed Parliament to discuss a matter causing great distress to many Australians – the refusal of the NBA to acknowledge Ben Simmons is crushing it and deserves a spot in the NBA All-Star Game.
"I rise today to express my outrage at the exclusion of Ben Simmons from this year’s NBA All-Star Game," said the member for the Victorian electorate of Gellibrand. "In a record-breaking rookie year for the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben is currently averaging nearly 17 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists per game."
Watts threw a jab at Heat guard Goran Dragic, telling Parliament "frankly, no-one with two brain cells to rub together would want Goran Dragic on their team over Ben."
The rant appeared to be a waste of Parliament's time, until Watts was able to use the topic to deliver a timely message celebrating Australia's diverse multiculturalism and shutting down the vocal minority who oppose immigration in Australia.
"The nine Australians who are currently flying the flag for our nation in the NBA include an Indigenous Australian, four children of immigrants and two refugees," Watts said. "Our representation in the NBA looks like modern Australia; a nation of migrants, and the most successful multicultural nation on earth. We should particularly recognise South Sudanese Australians Thon Maker and Mangok Mathiang for their extraordinary achievement of not just making it to the pinnacle of their profession, but overcoming the enormous challenges that they needed to confront arriving in Australia as refugees. There’s been a lot of nonsense said about Australia’s African community over the summer Parliamentary recess by politicians around the country but Thon and Mangok show the potential of every member of this community to overcome obstacles and excel at the highest level."
Simmons' plight to make the All-Star Game is obviously a hot topic for Watts, as the MP had Tweeted about it only a week ago.
We're generally all ready to hit most of Parliament with the snake emoji, but Watts has championed two important causes here and we're rocking with it.
