A pair of Bay Area players featured in the NY TIMES

The New York Times offers a tale about the friendship -- on and off the court -- of two Bay Area players:

Princeton Players Are Divided by Heritage, United by Basketball
Bill Finley
New York Times
January 8, 2009

PRINCETON, N.J. — When asked about their political views, cultures and backgrounds and whether they create problems for them on or off the basketball court, Niveen Rasheed and Lauren Polansky laugh simultaneously.

The Palestinian-American shooting guard and the Jewish point guard, freshman teammates on the Princeton women’s basketball team, understand why people bring up the subject, but to them it is not an issue. What they really care about, they say, are winning games and fostering a friendship that trumps whatever religious or ethnic differences may exist.

Rasheed’s parents are Palestinians, born and raised in the West Bank, and one of her sisters is part of the Palestinian diplomatic corps at the United Nations.

“It’s a big part of our family’s culture,” Rasheed said after a practice last week, adding: “You would think with all those factors I’d have in the back of my mind that L. P. is Jewish. But the way I was raised was that you should not have personal grudges against someone for their background.”

Polansky and Rasheed became friends playing together on an American Athletic Union team, the East Bay Xplosion, in Northern California, where they grew up a few miles apart. Polansky was the first to commit to Princeton, and her decision was among the reasons Rasheed decided to attend. On Polansky’s Facebook page, the featured picture is one of her and Rasheed in a friendly embrace.

“We are always hanging out together,” Rasheed said. “That’s the way this entire team is. On and off the court, we can’t get enough of each other. All the freshmen are close, and L. P. is one of my best friends here.”

Go here for the remainder.