Sorry if this has already been posted (couldn't find it using search)... This article was written back in April, but still might be interesting reading. Cuttino is also guilty of this type of behavior. Should there be concern about Ming and how well he'll be received by his team and the rest of the league? --------------------------------- Kevin Blackistone, Dallas Morning News Mavs help white out myth 04/11/2002 http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/columnists/kblackistone/stories/041102dnspoblackistone.5850c.html Nick Van Exel didn't have any trouble believing what he was hearing, because he'd heard it before. It was something guys in the league started intimating about the Mavericks the past couple of years. "You know," Van Exel explained with a shrug of his shoulders, "that old stereotype." Van Exel just hadn't heard the accusation hurled with venom. And certainly not in his face. But there it came in the heat of battle Tuesday night, aimed right at him, now that he's a member of the Mavericks. "A bunch of white boys!" Van Exel said somebody on the Blazers spat. It was not an observation served up solely as a census count of Van Exel's new team, which is, in fact, the only NBA team with a predominantly white starting cast. It was meant to be a slur. You know, white men can't hoop. And with so many white players to depend on, the slight suggested, Van Exel would ultimately wind up a loser in this league long dominated now by the predominant segment of its workforce, black players. That is a strong, though rarely publicly acknowledged, perception about white players in the NBA, and basketball in general. Larry Bird was an exception. Jerry West was another generation. Those days are gone. The lone non-foreign born white player named to last February's NBA All-Star Game, Minnesota's Wally Szczerbiak, recalled to Newsday that weekend an occurrence during a game against Toronto. When Raptors star Vince Carter found himself being guarded by Szczerbiak, Szczerbiak said Carter turned to the Minnesota bench and exclaimed: "You better get this white guy off me, or I'm going to score 40." "When a guy like Vince Carter has that much disrespect for you to say something like that, it just goes to show you where some of these guys are coming from," Szczerbiak commented. Imagine what all the Carters in the league think then of a team like the Mavericks filled out with a plethora of white guys – what with starters Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Raef LaFrentz, and reserves Shawn Bradley, Evan Eschmeyer and, to less extent, Eduardo Najera and Wang Zhizhi. Three of the Mavericks' starters are white and more than half of the active roster right now is not black. That is unusual in the NBA. It's a throwback, way back. "What? You mean we have too many white players?" coach Don Nelson said Wednesday when asked about the smear from one of the Blazers. "Never heard it. "Thank God for sports. That's the beauty of it. It's a place where, who cares what color he [a player] is? If a guy's good, he's good. The European players – the ones who make it, make it. The ones who don't, they go back. I just don't see it." Basketball, like most sports, wasn't always a meritocractic oasis, of course. It had to go through a period of breaking down barriers and stereotypes and segregation. Some of the earliest pro leagues mimicked many college programs and didn't allow black players. They even forbid competition against black teams, or teams with black players on them. Those days, thankfully, are over. It's ironic, though, that nowadays the pendulum has swung so far that white players are the subject of doubt, and sometimes ridicule, from black peers because of the color of their skin. But they are, whether it's on the American Airlines Center floor or in the local recreation gym. As Shaquille O'Neal wrote in his book, Shaq Talks Back: "If you're from the 'hood, you don't want to get dunked on by a white guy. That's just how it is." That's just how it was, maybe. I would think no player wants to get dunked on by anyone, and that there is no additional shame for the countless black players in the league who've been dunked on now – posterized, as the saying goes – by All-Star Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. I would also think that there is no extra shame for black players left to look as athletic as a fire hydrant when All-Star Mavericks guard Steve Nash crosses them up with a dribble. But if race is yet another obstacle – along with O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and David Robinson – with which these Mavericks must contend, there is good news: With more wins right now than all but one team, they've just about turned into pure myth another ridiculous stereotype. Kevin B. Blackistone can be reached at 214-977-8780. --------------- Kevin Blackistone himself is black, for what it's worth....
Interesting article. I wonder why it is white Americans just don't have the same impact on basketball as blacks or europeans.
To win championships, you have to be colorblind. You can't say, "Steve Francis is a black person and Yao Ming is a white person," it's "Steve Francis and Yao Ming are Rockets." The color of your skin doesn't define who you are, or how good you are. The black players need to get off the whites' backs, yes. As a black person, it's hard to ignore people of your race making fun of whites. The brothas tell me I'm white because I stick up for them. But I've taken a quote from Carlton on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." I don't have to try to be black, because I know I am black. But I know so many people who all they do is trash whites. It makes me sick. So, you Blazer *******, did ya win the game? I didn't think so.
I remember making a comment to a bball junkie that "back in the day" there was an unwritten rule that pro teams could hold only three black players on their roster, max. He came back with the retort that nowadays, it's three white crackers: "What? You're the fourth cracker? Get him out of here!" ~Radical subjectivity~
I hate to say it, moomoo, but the sort of comments mentioned in the article crop up in one form or another on this BBS from time to time. I've always found them disturbing. (I don't loose any sleep over it... I just don't care for bigotry of any kind.)
Probably hunger. Beyond the stereotypes, most black atheletes only way out of the hoods and ghetto's are perceived to be sports. Right or wrong thats the thought of most urban youth in america. In europe with all the wars after the the soviet collapse, alot of euro's are coming up in ghettos also. There are exceptions to the rule like the Kobes,Brands,Webbers and Williams of the world, but for the most part, its the easiest way to get a good way of life. Its hard to tell a atheletic ,long kid in the slums to go be a doctor when he knows if he works as hard on the court, he can make 4 times as much as that doctor in a short period of time. I remember the 60 mins article when Tyson Chandler was a teen and they were talking about him taping up his shoes. He turns 18, enters the draftm get picked 2nd or 3rd and if the current trend is anything, his next contract will be about 6yrs and 45-75 mill. Show me a doctor that makes that much. If i was a gm, I would be more inclined to chose a euro player because of this hunger they seem to have over the dunleavy's ,croshere's and wally's of the nba.
Why are there no black race car drivers....or no black swimmers? Maybe its just one of those things. There is no real answer for it. Why are there so many white quaterbacks and yet so few white corner backs? How many white guys have broken the 10 mark in 100 meter sprinting? There is no reason why a black driver cant be a Formula One Champions, why a white footballer cant be a star wide reciever. There is no reason why a black athlete cant break a swimming world record and no reason why a white man cant break the 100 meters world record. If someone said "You better get this white guy off me, or I'm going to score 40." to me on the court, or in any sport I'd forget about the game and belt them. There is no place for racist remarks of ANY kind in sport, or in life. The one thing that really gets to me is that after so much work by all races to try to make this world colour blind, an African American would even think of throwing out a racial remark like that. The people that worked so hard before them for the rights for black people in America deserve better then that attitude. I hate Vince Carters guts He should learn a thing or two about class from his legendary center Christopher
If anything, they accentuate the myth even more. Yes, they are good. No one said white players completely suck. THe Mavs completely follow the white stereotype of having great shooters who play no defense. I don't see how the Mavs white players are any different than the stereotypical white player.
Classic. This is what i i like to call the false-face of liberalism. (as opposed to conservativism, those who swallow all kinds of bull in return for the safety of the herd) in order to save the world, one must run it. and in order to run the world, one must decide, know, and authorize what is right or wrong, good or evil. In order to know the difference between good and evil, you have to be God. Christopher, are you God? Or to put it in a better form: The urge to save the world masks the urge to run it. Beneath the skin of the person who claims the world has gone to hell in a handbasket is a person who wants to re-create it after their own fashion. Of course, this "urge" is supposedly to be done in a 'disinterested' manner- but what the hell is an altruistic act/unselfish behavior? He that humbleth himself wants to be exalted. What exactly is "better?" By what standard does one discover the values of good/bad? What do we mean by 'wrong?' What if my idea of right/wrong differs from yers? Conclusion- if there is no universal right and wrong, then there is no possibility of changing the world for the "better." Conversely, the only possible way to "save the world" is if a person discovers what is good or bad for himself and tries to enact his subjective values. Quad errat demonstrandum * and now, back to your scheduled posting
I guess privileging the Queen's English marginalizes that good ol' southern twang unto utter absurdity!
Um....help! I know Im not God because if I was Utah would have been 0-82 for the last 10 years atleast Just from an Aussies point of view I find Americans like to label things like a persons race, religion or even their political standings fairly quickly. I say live life and accept people for who they are. Evil batsards that are all out to get me Christopher
This was the subject of a 100+ post a few months back in the hang out bbs. Something about a study that stated most world-class sprinters were of West African ancestry, and that most world-class long distance runners were of East African ancestry. The post also talked about fast-twitch muscles, with some Jimmy the Greek theories thrown in, if I recall correctly.
