NBA playoffs: Matt Bonner grows playoff beard for San Antonio Spurs playoff drive - Toronto Star

Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs handles the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Three of the Western Conference Finals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday in Oklahoma City, OK.

Evan Gole/GETTY IMAGES

By Doug Smith Sports Reporter

OKLAHOMA CITYâ€"If there was another reason for Canadian sports fans to love Matt Bonner, here it is.

He’s standing on the court of the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday morning, chatting with a couple of acquaintances when the American of the two says:

“Is that a playoff beard?”

Bonner, politely, doesn’t reply “duh!” but he does cast a furtive eye at the questioner.

“This is not a fashion statement,” he finally says.

Now, Bonner might be the only NBAer still playing who has picked up on a long-standing hockey tradition but he comes by it naturally. The San Antonio Spurs forward and ex-Raptor may not be a Canadian by birth, but he seems to be by soul, as well as by marriage.

“It’s harder on the wives, I think,” he said, fully admitting the rather scruffy growth is not the most esthetically pleasing.

“My wife is not too pleased about this but she understands, she’s Canadian.”

Bonner, however, is not yet and his application for Canadian citizenship continues to gather dust in some queue, he fears. It’s been almost four years and he’s not there yet.

“I don’t know,” he said of the process. “I think you have to be in the country a certain amount of days, I don’t know.

“It’s tough because I play and live in San Antonio during the season.”

At stake is Bonner’s desire to play for the Canadian senior national team but citizenship aside, time is running out on that, too.

With there being no senior team season this summer, the earliest Bonner could possibly play would be next year at the qualification tournament for the 2014 world championships and that’s not a slam dunk.

“As I age, it’s getting a little less and less (a priority),” he said. “I’m 32 now so I’m kind of running out of time a little as far as committing my summer to playing for Team Canada. Guess we’ll see what happens.”

Whatever happens with is international career, Bonner still has lots of NBA action to worry about. He’s been struggling through these playoffs with the Spurs â€" who take a 2-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder into Saturday’s Game 4 of the Western Conference final â€" because the Thunder simply aren’t giving him a lot of space to operate.

He’s just 1-for-7 from three-point range in the conference final, was 2-for-6 in the semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers after going 5-for-10 in the first round against the Utah Jazz. He hasn’t made more than one three-pointer in a game since the first game of the playoffs.

“A, they’re not leaving me and B, if for some reason I’m left, they’re doing a heckuva job closing out and taking away (my shot), it’s just really hard to get open looks,” he said.

“It’s about rhythm and looks and they’re doing a good job limiting that for me. I just have to stay ready, who knows, I might get a bunch of good looks in a row, I might not. I just have to be ready in case that opportunity arises.”

But no matter what his play is like, the facial hair stays, despite some issues with it.

“I tell you, the moustache is growing in a little bushier than anticipated,” he said. “It’ll be like four o’clock and I can smell the breakfast taco I ate from the morning. It’s crazy.”

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