Yeah, I first heard of nickname "The Jet" right after we won our first championship and Inside Stuff had a show about the Rockets. I guess it's because he used to have "hops".
I never heard it then. I mean I never heard Bill & Calvin use it or any of the radio broadcasters or local media use it during that time. Perhaps "The Jet" refers to how fast he can flap his gums per minute! Chris
As a fan of the Rockets first and Basketball second, I like watching the best game I can. I really do not care where the players are from. I have heard a lot of trash talk about the Euro players - being soft in the past. I think the first Euro players I personally saw like Kukoc and Sabonis have amazing shooting abililty and a very polished game. Kenny needs to leave it alone - he is irrelevant...
I proposed this *exact same* idea in the BBS Hangout a couple of weeks ago and was criticized severely. I do believe it is true however. The "thug, gangsta, streetball" paradigm is being threatened by a return to sound, selfless, team basketball. While the black dominance of the sport in the US has essentially discouraged many white/hispanic/asian/other players from viewing it as a potential career opportunity, in Europe and abroad this is not the case. I'm very happy to see these foreign players excel, and I think it is great for the NBA and for the sport. Diversity, without sacrificing ability, should be encouraged in the NBA, like it is in all other aspects of society. It's ironic (and hypocritical) that many of the same people you see stumping for affirmative action are the same people complaining about the foreign influx of NBA players.
I've wondered about this "The Jet" thing myself. I don't remember him being called that at all back in the day. Who started it... his girlfriend??
Thug, gangsta, streetball????? That is so wrong, I don't even know where to begin. Have you ever even watched streetball? It is absolutely nothing like what the players in the NBA do, not even Iverson, who I assume it the main guy you are referring to, doesn't play streetball in the NBA. It's pretty prejudiced of you to assume that everybody who plays street ball is a gangsta and a thug. Steve Francis played in the rucker league this summer, last time I checked he wasn't a thug or a gangster. The same goes for Baron Davis. Kobe played a game this summer and he also grew up playing on the street. You know Kobe, he's the guy who spent many years in Europe and is fluent in many languages. Yeah, damn, these thugs and gangsters are getting cultured, watch out. Do you just assume that all the black players in the league are thugs and gangsters? Last time I checked, thugs and gangsters were actual criminals. The problem with american basketball is a lack of fundementals. Players have to be taught these things and they aren't. Sure they learn to play on the playground or the street, but it's completely unfair to call these kids gangsters and thugs for going to play ball on the only courts they can. Highschool coaches don't know enough to truly teach these kids and to bring attention from shoe companies, you have to impress with flashy play. Players could learn what they need in college, but they are spending less time there and the NCAA doesn't even allow them to have much practice time. Europeans are getting better and better because they play more and are coached more in general. When these players are becoming proffesionals as teenagers and growing up playing with older players and experienced coaches, of course they are going to have better fundementals.
Oski-- I really have no idea how you interepreted that post to read that way. Maybe you just wanted to interpret it that way, regardless of what I had to say. I did *not* call all blacks thugs or gangsters (that is absurd). I did not call all streetball players thugs or gangsters. What I said was that the "thug, gangsta, streetball paradigm" is on its way down. This is merely a label for an image that players pattern themselves after. It is simply a descriptive phrase to describe the style of play that is flashy and promotes individual highlights/showmanship over team principles. Please *think* before throwing those kind of accusations around in the future.
So because it's dominated by black people it's "Thug, gangsta, and streetball"? It was "dominated" by black people in the 80s and I don't remember people calling it street ball, and I don't remember hearing people say they needed foreign players over here to "save" it from thugs and streetball. As for the ridiculous "affirmative action" (which I'm assuming you are saying that all black people are complaining about the influx of foreign players), how do you explain Rick Majerus who is white and complained about it, and the media that is mostly white and have complained about it? This is wrong on so many levels. Just because Kenny Smith complained about it and is black doesn't mean all black people complain about it.
Your assumption is wrong. I love it when people argue with words that weren't even written or implied.
Where is it that black players are patterning themselves after thugs, gangsters and criminals? You just accused basketball of going downhill and of white people, hispanics and other cultures of not wanting to play basketball because black people dominated it and sucked basketball down the toilet. Now foreign players are coming to save it. Again, Jason Williams of Memphis is white and he is flashy. Grant Hill is black and he is fundamentally sound. Shaq is black and he is powerful. Kobe is black he is also fundamentally sound, and he is flashy, but not in a way that compromises basketball. When you bring up affirmative action that is crossing the line of labeling all black people and players.
<i>The "thug, gangsta, streetball" paradigm is being threatened by a return to sound, selfless, team basketball. <b>While the black dominance of the sport in the US has essentially discouraged many white/hispanic/asian/other players from viewing it as a potential career opportunity, in Europe and abroad this is not the case.</b> I'm very happy to see these foreign players excel, and I think it is great for the NBA and for the sport. </i> <i>. It's ironic (and hypocritical) that many of the same people you see stumping for affirmative action are the same people complaining about the foreign influx of NBA players.</i> Those are the main things I commented on.
RocksMillenium -- You clearly have strong feelings on this topic. You are also clearly trying to pick a fight with me. Please *stop* twisting and contorting the words I use to mean something vastly different. You are jumping to conclusions and making inferences that are simply not there. The bottom line is that I am a *proponent* of diversity in the NBA. I feel like you have a problem with that, as do many others. You shouldn't -- it's good for the game.
Thanks for copying that, RocksMillenium. It's one thing to say you're misunderstood, but it's another to just say one thing and then deny that you've said it. Trader_Jorge, please stop writting essays about race and culture. You just end up suffocating in your own vacuum of ignorance. Kenny is being borderline xenophobic, and he's wrong.
I have a problem with diversity in the NBA yet I have defended Yao Ming and Nachbar, huh? I don't have a problem at all with diversity, after all guys like Hakeem and Duncan wouldn't have had a chance to dominate and win rings without it. The only thing I questioned you on was when you said that black dominance of basketball was when basketball went down the drain and that is not true, because the 80s was also dominated by black basketball players and that is when it was at its most popular. I think it has nothing to do with race, because there are some fundamentally sound players who are black and white and some who aren't who are black and white. That's the problems, fundamentals.
Ok RocksMillenium, please point out to me where I said the following things: 1) *All* black people are complaining 2) Basketball needs to be "saved" 3) Whites and others are *not* complaining You can not point out where I said this because I did not say this. It truly baffles me how you can argue with words that were never written nor implied.
Ok RocksMillenium, please point out to me where I said the following things: <b>1) *All* black people are complaining</b> When you brought up affirmative action, said that black dominance brought an end to basketball fundamentals, things like that. I'm guessing that black people, particularly basketball players, would have a problem with you saying they pattern themselves after "Thugs, gangstas" and things like that. <b>2) Basketball needs to be "saved"</b> When you said that Europeans are bringing their fundamentally sound basketball over to save it from black dominance. You essentially said that other cultures didn't view basketball as a career because of black dominance, but Europeans are changing that. I'll quote your quote again: <i>While the black dominance of the sport in the US has essentially discouraged many white/hispanic/asian/other players from viewing it as a potential career opportunity, in Europe and abroad this is not the case. </i> 3) Whites and others are *not* complaining I don't know what this means. <b>You can not point out where I said this because I did not say this. It truly baffles me how you can argue with words that were never written nor implied. </b> In one of my previous posts I just posted every thing that I replied on you about. How can you say you didn't say anything when I just QUOTED you on saying it!?
No problem. I didn't want to turn this into a huge argument, just point out a different point of view. It's silly to blame basketball's decline on "black dominance", when its peak years were also during "black dominance".
No you did not. You took my words, misconstrued them, slandered me, put words in my mouth, and then claimed that I said it. Did I ever say black dominance was ruining the sport? No I did not. What I said, and what you are unable to understand, is that black dominance discourages other races from making basketball a career choice. This has absolutely nothing to do do with the sport being ruined, or flushed down the toilet, or needing to be saved -- all accusations which you have thrown at me unjustly. Your problem is not only one of misinterpretation, but a deeper issue -- your pride and self-confidence seem to be directly tied to this very sensitive issue. You seem to be unable to discuss it rationally because of feelings of anger which are pervading your argument.
Thank you Dr Ruth! Besides if black dominance discourages other races from making basketball a career how come there are so many races of players in the NBA, who said their DREAM was to play in the NBA? And if "black dominance" discourages other races from making basketball a career how come the majority of basketball managements, GMs, coaches and the media are white? You still never explained this comment: <i>The "thug, gangsta, streetball" paradigm is being threatened by a return to sound, selfless, team basketball. While the black dominance of the sport in the US has essentially discouraged many white/hispanic/asian/other players from viewing it as a potential career opportunity, in Europe and abroad this is not the case.</i> That's like saying white dominance in hockey is the reason black people don't play it. It has more to do with the fact that hockey isn't a sport easily played by everyone. Basketball's popularity has nothing to do with black dominance, it has everything to do with lack of fundamentals, lack of a true competitor for the Lakers, no one fully taking the torch from Michael Jordan (though Shaq and Kobe are close). Foreign players coming in helps the game talent wise obviously since they bring a variety of skills that teams need, but most importantly they bring an international flair to the game that it didn't have before. If black dominance is the reason there aren't that many hispanics or white people in basketball, then foreign players wouldn't come over to begin with. And, from what I see, basketball isn't any less black then it was 10 years ago so how come there was "black dominance" in the 80s and early 90s and everything was cool, but now it's because of black dominance that everything is going into the toilet? And you did essentially say that when you said this: <i>The "thug, gangsta, streetball" paradigm is being threatened by a return to sound, selfless, team basketball. </i> Magic Johnson and Dr J's style aren't any different then today's players other then the fact that it was new when they did it.
