article by Jason Whitlock. I find myself saddened by this
article...and I'll throw my opinions in where I see fit....
Posted on Mon, Nov. 22, 2004
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Race plays role as NBA deals with Detroit fiasco
By JASON WHITLOCK
Kansas City Star
NBA commissioner David Stern sent a message to his players Sunday.
By issuing three of the harshest penalties in league history - a
73-game suspension of Ron Artest, 30 games for Stephen Jackson and 25
games for Jermaine O'Neal - Stern let his players know that the league
will aggressively try to clean up its image problem.
For their role in Friday's ugly brawl at Detroit, the Pacers,
favorites to represent the East in the NBA finals, received the death
penalty. Indiana's season is over. O'Neal, Artest, both All-Stars, and
Jackson are Indiana's three best players.
Stern had no choice. TV ratings for the league have been steadily
falling since Michael Jordan's heyday. The league's image has been in
decline since Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Jordan ruled.
Allen Iverson, Latrell Sprewell, Kobe Bryant, Dream Team failures, an
embrace of all the negative aspects of the hip-hop culture and a
horrid style of play have conspired to make the NBA easy to ignore.
Horrid style of play? Most people complain that
there is no defense. Funny thing is in the NBA's heyday the scoring
was significantly higher in the 80's than it is today. Defense wasn't
a problem then???By decimating the Pacers and publicly
acknowledging that there has been a lowering of expectations in terms
of player (and fan) behavior, Stern made it clear he's not in denial
about the NBA's troubles.
I am, however, concerned that the league's players will remain in
denial. Surrounded by groupies and yes-men, fortified by
multimillion-dollar contracts and endorsement deals, it will be easy
for NBA players to misinterpret Stern's warning.
In this column, I am calling on my peers in the media to level with
NBA players (and all professional athletes) and tell them what's
really going on.
American sports fans, particularly those who consistently shell out
the hundreds of dollars it takes to attend a professional game, are
fed up with black professional basketball players in particular and
black professional athletes to a lesser degree.
hockey fights. It's only when black players are involved is the fight
not good....?
Yeah, let's cut through all the garbage and get to the real issue. The
people paying the bills don't like the product, don't like the
attitude, don't like the showboating and don't like the flamboyance.
The NBA, which relies heavily on African-American players, is at the
forefront of fan backlash. Stern realizes this, and that's why,
spurred on by the Detroit brawl, he is reacting decisively.
What the players must come to grips with is that just because race is
an element in the backlash, that doesn't mean the backlash is fueled
by racism At this point, I feel Jason is just
trying to make sure he doesn't get called for playing the race(ism)
card. How can he not admit the racism involved in this statement
alone?.
We're witnessing a clash of cultures. A predominately white fan base
is rejecting a predominately black style of play and sportsmanship.
Who is on the right side of this argument? The group that is always
right in a capitalistic society. The customer. That's why Stern,
endorsed by his owners, came down hard on the players. He stated that
the NBA would take steps to ensure that its fans improved their
behavior. But Stern knows the real solutions are in the hands of his
players. A good businessman caters to his audience. They don't play
country music at my dad's inner-city bar for a reason.
Stern's players must bow to the desires of their fan base.
and what you stand for. Ignore where you came from. You must be as
the white man wants you....kinda makes the whole 60's thing a waste of
fire hydrant water and good tennis shoes doesn't it?
In general, African-American athletes have always been - for lack of a
better description - more expressive and flamboyant on the field of
play. Go back to the Negro Leagues - showboating was part of the
entertainment package. The Negro Leagues catered to a predominately
black fan base.
We, black people, begged for integration. We demanded the right to
play in the major leagues, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL Yes we begged for integration....and by that I mean we begged to be accepted, treated equally....not assimilated....but accepted as we are.. These leagues accommodate a white audience. As long as
the customer base is white, the standard for appropriate
sportsmanship, style of play and appearance should be set by white
people Does this sound even remotely like we're
still in America. Perhaps instead of making basketball fit into the
white customer's version of how it should be....maybe we should make
NBA games a little more available to other cultures that may not
believe in the 'sportsmanship, style of play and appearance'
acceptable to white people. This statement is fucked (pardon my
unacceptable faux pas in the language category...alas it is not
ebonics though) up for so many reasons .
This is fair, particularly when the athletes/employees earn millions
of dollars and have the freedom to do whatever - and I mean whatever -
they want when they're not playing or practicing.
If African-American players are unwilling to accept this reality, NBA
owners will speed up the internationalization of their team's rosters.
Many African-American players with NBA-quality skill will soon find
themselves circling the country playing basketball with Hot Sauce and
the And 1 Tour while Yao Nowitzki collects a $10 million NBA check. And the funny thing is, when the league loses the black players, they will lose the black audience, you know the ones who made athletic endorsements what they are today. Once that happens, then the NBA is truly done.
The black players will have no one to blame but themselves
desperately to say that with a straight face'), you can be anything and
all your dreams can come true...that is if you've properly
assimilated. Can't have too many successful people from the hood
hanging at the country club. .
I used to respect Jason Whitlock as I've read his articles on
ESPN.com....but in my opinion he should be ashamed of himself. He's
playing the race card but it's in his own efforts to assimilate.
My question is why is it when Black athletes get in heated and
physical situations, it suddenly becomes a by product of the hip hop
culture. But when white athletes get heated and in physical
situations, their actions don't represent an entire group of people ie
they aren't the typical white athlete, or there actions aren't a
by-product of the Metallica album they use to get hyped for the game?
I'm not condoning Ron Artest's actions at all. But I do want some
accountability held to the fans much more than the passing sentence or
two that the media is providing.
3 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more! It certainly looks like Stern is playing the race card - trying to 'whiten" the product. I've been a long-time basketball fan - I was a huge Pistons fan in the 70's and 80's. Anyone old enough can probably remember Bill Lambeer (sp) - he was as white as they come and one of the roughest players I've ever seen - then or now.
You have a very good point about other sports as well - check out hockey up here in Canada (okay, you can't right now because the whinning millionaires are locked out). Most of the brawling goons are as white as can be and I don't suspect many of them are influenced by hip-hop.
I do agree with you that this has a lot of race issues involved in the situation. I don't think race has much of anything to do with the actual fight (I could definitely be wrong about this, but I'm going to assume that the fighting was "just" a fight.) But, I heard some interesting comments last night by my favorite commentator, Sir Charles. The penalties were too harsh for the athletes, not harsh enough for the fans. But, in his words... Stern "can't have players actin' a fool." He was largely commenting on this issue of black players/white audience. I disagree that the fan base does not like the show-boating, the flamboyant behavior, and so on as the article states. I think that if you want to really dig in deep, it has to do with narcissistic roots of racism that was only evidence in society decades a go. Just some points to ponder: boxing for one is a sport where white people like to watch black people pound each other (and it used to be a lot worse from what I understand). There is something about people watching other people do things that they can't do (or wouldn't). Obviously the fans like the style of play because they're spending a lot of money to do it. I think the punishment is largely about race, just like Charles said-- a kind of "show them who's boss" type of thing. And that makes me sick. (But I'm a Pacer fan.)
As a basketball fan, I think we have to figure out (and this is the NBA's problem), why there is such a disconnect between the fan and the player. Why do we love to hate them (if they don't play for our team)? Why do we feel that it is our right to say whatever or throw whatever at the opposing team? Why are we so obsessed with celebrities in general?
It was only a matter of time before someone pushed Artest's button... he plays on the edge, and he was eventually going to go over (if he hadn't already before.) No surprises there. You're right that this happens in every other sport, and no one acts like one person's actions ruin the whole bunch. Even in football, just because TO does a lot of showboating doesn't mean that we think all football players are out for attention, right?
One more thing... not all white people listen to Metallica.:)
I know all white people don't listen to Metallica...there's Guns and Roses too!!
Thanks for the comments and I really can't disagree with any of them.
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