Los Suns Play Los Spurs on Los Spanglish Night

By Bethlehem Shoals
So Suns/Spurs was an epic game that completely changed my thinking about the NBA. But it was also Noche Latina, where those two cities’ gigantic Hispanic populations were honored through the healing power of language.
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While I don’t speak Spanish, I felt like there was something slightly off about “Los Spurs” taking on “Los Suns.” Namely, there has to be a Spanish word for “spur,” and I know there’s one for “sun.” At first, I’d thought this was pure pragmatics: The Spurs had just slapped a “los” over their usual jerseys, leading me to wonder if this had been a cost-cutting tape job. But in the Suns’ case, the font was different, meaning the uniform couldn’t have just been last-minute alterations. I don’t know, maybe this reflects the two franchises’ respective attitudes toward money: The Spurs are smart as the devil about the cap, while the Suns were in a pickle even before Shaq.
Since then, I’ve had it confirmed for me that this kind of Spanglish is how these teams are referred to in the community. Kind of like all those 1960’s Latin American bands like Los Mockers and Los Shakers, who just stuck “los” in front of crazy English words and sang with accents.
Because I am a man of honor: I thought of this on Sunday during the game, but Coffee is for Closers beat me to the posting punch.↵