The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FREE NATIONAL Movement leader Michael Pintard suggested his party has been in discussions with former NBA player Rick Fox, who recently announced his intention to run in the next general election.

During an appearance on Guardian Radio’s “Talking Heads” in November, Mr Fox revealed he had met with both the Progressive Liberal Party and the Free National Movement about potentially joining one of them, adding at the time that Mr Pintard had been the most aggressive in pursuing him.

Asked yesterday whether the FNM had formally reached out to Mr Fox, Mr Pintard did not directly answer but said the party has a good relationship with him.

“We have tremendous admiration for him, what he has been able to accomplish over the years, the tremendous attention he's brought to The Bahamas in a favourable way for all of the things that he has accomplished,” Mr Pintard told reporters outside of The House Assembly. “When I was minister with responsibility for sport, we were having extensive conversations about more than $300 million investment in that particular sector.”

Mr Pintard also criticised Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who recently said he was unsure whether Mr Fox was Bahamian, suggesting he thought he was Canadian. Mr Fox, born in Canada to a Bahamian father and Italian mother, holds dual citizenship and spent his early years in The Bahamas.

Asked whether he sought to cash in on Mr Fox’s celebrity appeal, Mr Pintard said: “It’s not about cashing in. It’s about providing any talent that would be able to move us forward. We're prepared to talk to Bahamians locally and abroad, who wish to contribute to the empowerment of Bahamas.”

Mr Fox, a former NBA star and actor, currently serves under the Davis administration as Ambassador at Large for sports. However, tensions have grew after he publicly criticised the party but refused to resign.

In a Facebook post last month, Mr Fox said he serves the Bahamian people, not a political party, and rejected claims that ambassadors must remain silent during by-elections. He added that if “silly season” demands placing party interests above the national interest, it would contradict what Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis told him when he accepted the role.