No, no according to the Spanish Basketball team, they aren’t making an offensive, stereotype promoting gesture in that team photo. Your eyes and sensibilities are wrong. They are not making “slant eyes” they are “winking” and felt it was an appropriate gesture and felt that it was “somewhat loving”.

Someone needs to smack the Spanish basketball team with a serrano ham.

The picture was taken as an advertising shot for a Spanish courier company.

Jose Calderon (Spain’s men’s team, Toronto Raptors) has to say about that “slant-eye” picture:

I would like to share a story with you about something that happened with the Spanish National Team that someone interpreted incorrectly. It happened in the photo session where the Spanish National Team was introduced; one of our sponsors asked us to pose with a “wink” to our participation in Beijing, we made an oriental expression with our eyes. We thought it was something appropriate and that it would always be interpreted as somewhat loving. Never the less some of the European media did not see it this way.

From here I would like to declare that we have a huge respect for the East and their people, some of my best friends in Toronto are from China and one of our Spanish National Team sponsors is the Chinese brand Li Ning. Anyone who would like to interpret this differently is absolutely confused.

But my best friend is Chinese? Are you serious? This is the defense?

Via / Resist Racism, Yahoo! Sports and a special shout to to Kai.