I love this story (#JudgeMe)! It hits home for me because my family is from Tehran, Iran. Persians stand up! Lol. Haddadi is the first and only Iranian to play in the NBA and since being traded to the Suns, he changed his jersey number from 15 to 98. Find out the meaning after the jump…
According to Kelly Dwyer | Ball Don’t Lie:
The native of Iran is a hilarious Twitter follow, and he kept up his sense of self during a tumultuous time with the Grizzlies from 2008 to 2013. Haddadi has overcome language (and self-expression) barriers, visa issues, and up and down playing time in five years before he was shipped to Toronto earlier this month in the Rudy Gay deal.
After being denied the chance to play with the Raptors because of those same visa issues, Haddadi was dealt to Phoenix last week for point guard Sebastian Telfair. In suiting up for a team that could use his services on the interior, Haddadi decided to pay tribute to his home country in choosing his new Suns number. 98.
It is Iran’s national telephone code, something Haddadi probably has touchscreen memory for at this point, and we think it’s a pretty cool tribute. Leaving politics (to put it very mildly) aside and understanding the sort of person Hamed is, he’s worth a cheer.
