Mickael Pietrus Uses Shoes to Honor Air France Flight 447

Mickael Pietrus has a few nicknames -- "Air France," "The Michael Jordan of France" -- that are very indicative of his country of origin. Obviously, then, the recent crash of Air France flight 447 moved him.

So much, in fact, that he decided to honor those that lost their lives in the plane crash by wearing shoes that read "AF 447" last night during the first game of the NBA Finals.

"I have a nickname: Air France," Pietrus said. "I wanted to send my prayers to all those people who lost their lives on that plane. You realize how life can be. I know that families are having hard times right now and hopefully they'll have better days in the future."

"It could be any family that it happened to," Pietrus said. "Life is short and sometimes people suffer. And you've got to try to do the right thing."

The Orlando Magic didn't win, obviously, but that's no reflection on the classy action by Pietrus in this case: I'm not sure if what he did is "legal" or not (the NBA generally is pretty stringent, like most pro sports leagues) about allowing players to honor others in an individual fashion on their uniforms, but for Pietrus to give a shoutout on a national stage to his fallen countrymen and the others that passed in the tragic accident is an impressive statement nonetheless.