Among the “big four” professional sports leagues of North
America, the NBA is by far the most “black”:
About 78% of players are African American. However, the majority of NBA fans and pundits
are white. Because of that divide, the
subject of race and ethnicity is one that will always be relevant and much discussed
in NBA circles. Unfortunately, most of
the talk about the significance of race in the NBA has revolved around the
perceived “blackness” of the league and how that might negatively affect
business. Some individuals have
concluded that white consumers are less likely to support the NBA because they
can’t identify with black athletes, or because they perceive the players as thugs
or gangsters. Buzz Bissinger wrote an
article about that very issue for The Daily Beast last year entitled “NBA
All-Star Game: White Men Can’t Root” (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/02/17/nba-all-star-game-white-men-cant-root.html).
Largely because of the opinions held by Mr. Bissinger and
others like him, almost every major change the NBA has made to its rules or
policies over the years has been scrutinized for potential racial
implications. Recently, the NBA has
instituted a strict player dress code, as well as rules to prevent players from
entering the league directly out of high school. Commissioner David Stern has also criticized NBA
players/artists like Allen Iverson for using offensive language (such as
the n-word) in song lyrics. All of those actions have been viewed by some
as attempts to make the NBA “less black” and thus more appealing to its
majority white audience. The players
themselves also seem to be aware of the stigma of being seen as “too black”,
and potentially reducing their marketability.
Last year, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant caught some
criticism for his so-called “business tattoos” (http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2011/07/25/kevin-durants-hidden-tattoos-are-on-purpose/),
seemingly an attempt to distance himself somewhat from the hip-hop or black
culture in the eyes of the public.
Given how widespread the notion of the NBA being “too black” has been for many years, I was shocked to read on the website of the Star Tribune last month an article penned by Jerry Zgoda and Dennis Brackin which details some criticism the Minnesota Timberwolves have endured for being too white. The article features quotes from Tyrone Terrell, who is the leader of the African American Leadership in St. Paul, and Ron Edwards, former head of the Minnesota Civil Rights Commission. Mr. Terrell believes the current Timberwolves roster, which features ten white and five African American players, resembles the “1955 Lakers”, and that the Timberwolves have purposely overloaded the roster with white players in order to sell more tickets. Edwards goes so far as to describe an experience from last season in which only one black player was on the floor for the Timberwolves as “disturbing”.
Unsurprisingly, David Kahn, General Manager of the team, denies the allegations. Kahn is quoted in the Star Tribune article as saying “Every decision we've made here has been intended to make the team as good as can be, as quickly as can be”. The facts would certainly seem to back him up. Last year, the Timberwolves sported eight black players on the roster. Nonetheless, they ranked a respectable 15th in the league in attendance, and managed to sell 90.2 of their seats according to a Sporting News article (http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-10-31/minnesota-timberwolves-white-roster-civil-rights-protest-tyrone-terrell). Furthermore, the Timberwolves put a great deal of time and effort over the offseason into pursuing Portland swingman Nicolas Batum, a black player from France (although they were ultimately unable to acquire his services).
Obviously, as Kahn stated himself, the Timberwolves have assembled their team based on chemistry and strategy, without regard to race. The team, despite injuries to two key players in Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love, has jumped out to a 5-3 record thanks largely to the play of talented white players like Andrei Kirilenko, Nikola Pekovic, and Chase Budinger. The reason so many of those names look funny is that the Minnesota Timberwolves have managed to build a roster featuring an impressive number of international players. And that’s the irony of the complaints levied by Mr. Terrell and Mr. Edwards. As an African American myself, I understand the cries among black leaders for more diversity in all walks of life. It’s important to remember, though, that diversity doesn’t just mean more black people.
In a league that is nearly 80% African American, a team like the Miami Heat features twelve players that are black, one that is biracial, and two that are white. All but one are American-born. By contrast, the Timberwolves may feature ten players that are white, but five of those players were born in countries other than the United States (Pekovic from Yugoslavia, Rubio from Spain, Jose Barea from Puerto Rico, and Kirilenko and Alexey Shved from Russia). So which team is actually more diverse? I actually admire the Timberwolves for not feeling any pressure to employ more black players just to avoid senseless criticism like this. The team obviously likes the chemistry and balance they have uncovered with their current, and by coincidence, mostly white, roster. And their win-loss record thus far has borne out that confidence.
As a black man, I have no problem with the so-called "whiteness" of the Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, I feel my heart swell with pride when I watch the Timberwolves play basketball. Anyone who loves the game of basketball should. The way that they play the game is simply beautiful. The motion offense of Coach Rick Adelman has always been a thing to behold when he has the right personnel. He has found a great mix of such players this year in Minnesota. And it only adds to the tapestry-like beauty of things that the Minnesota players come from such diverse backgrounds. Watching the Wolves play reminds me of how amazing the game of basketball can be, and how it has reached across all borders in recent years, uniting people in the process.
Mr. Edwards and Mr. Terrell should be ecstatic, too. Because a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves does more for diversity in the NBA than a thousand mostly black teams could do. Not only is this team diverse as hell, they are shattering stereotypes as well. Any fans of the lazy caricature of white basketball players as un-athletic would be advised to check into forward Chase Budinger: the kid can fly. And those who still buy into that outdated notion of Europeans players as soft? Nikola Pekovic would like a word with you. Because of teams like the Timberwolves, and the similarly international Toronto Raptors, players all over not just America, but Europe and Asia as well, can look to this team and emulate the playing styles of Budinger and Pekovic just as readily as they can those of African American players like Brandon Roy and Malcolm Lee. That’s the beauty of the modern, global NBA. Because whether the Timberwolves are mostly black, or white, European or Asian is irrelevant. They are a team. And in response to everyone who seeks to make things about anything more than that, particularly where race is concerned, Brandon Roy himself has a simple, yet poignant response in that Tribune article: “It’s just basketball”.
Given how widespread the notion of the NBA being “too black” has been for many years, I was shocked to read on the website of the Star Tribune last month an article penned by Jerry Zgoda and Dennis Brackin which details some criticism the Minnesota Timberwolves have endured for being too white. The article features quotes from Tyrone Terrell, who is the leader of the African American Leadership in St. Paul, and Ron Edwards, former head of the Minnesota Civil Rights Commission. Mr. Terrell believes the current Timberwolves roster, which features ten white and five African American players, resembles the “1955 Lakers”, and that the Timberwolves have purposely overloaded the roster with white players in order to sell more tickets. Edwards goes so far as to describe an experience from last season in which only one black player was on the floor for the Timberwolves as “disturbing”.
Unsurprisingly, David Kahn, General Manager of the team, denies the allegations. Kahn is quoted in the Star Tribune article as saying “Every decision we've made here has been intended to make the team as good as can be, as quickly as can be”. The facts would certainly seem to back him up. Last year, the Timberwolves sported eight black players on the roster. Nonetheless, they ranked a respectable 15th in the league in attendance, and managed to sell 90.2 of their seats according to a Sporting News article (http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-10-31/minnesota-timberwolves-white-roster-civil-rights-protest-tyrone-terrell). Furthermore, the Timberwolves put a great deal of time and effort over the offseason into pursuing Portland swingman Nicolas Batum, a black player from France (although they were ultimately unable to acquire his services).
Obviously, as Kahn stated himself, the Timberwolves have assembled their team based on chemistry and strategy, without regard to race. The team, despite injuries to two key players in Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love, has jumped out to a 5-3 record thanks largely to the play of talented white players like Andrei Kirilenko, Nikola Pekovic, and Chase Budinger. The reason so many of those names look funny is that the Minnesota Timberwolves have managed to build a roster featuring an impressive number of international players. And that’s the irony of the complaints levied by Mr. Terrell and Mr. Edwards. As an African American myself, I understand the cries among black leaders for more diversity in all walks of life. It’s important to remember, though, that diversity doesn’t just mean more black people.
In a league that is nearly 80% African American, a team like the Miami Heat features twelve players that are black, one that is biracial, and two that are white. All but one are American-born. By contrast, the Timberwolves may feature ten players that are white, but five of those players were born in countries other than the United States (Pekovic from Yugoslavia, Rubio from Spain, Jose Barea from Puerto Rico, and Kirilenko and Alexey Shved from Russia). So which team is actually more diverse? I actually admire the Timberwolves for not feeling any pressure to employ more black players just to avoid senseless criticism like this. The team obviously likes the chemistry and balance they have uncovered with their current, and by coincidence, mostly white, roster. And their win-loss record thus far has borne out that confidence.
As a black man, I have no problem with the so-called "whiteness" of the Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, I feel my heart swell with pride when I watch the Timberwolves play basketball. Anyone who loves the game of basketball should. The way that they play the game is simply beautiful. The motion offense of Coach Rick Adelman has always been a thing to behold when he has the right personnel. He has found a great mix of such players this year in Minnesota. And it only adds to the tapestry-like beauty of things that the Minnesota players come from such diverse backgrounds. Watching the Wolves play reminds me of how amazing the game of basketball can be, and how it has reached across all borders in recent years, uniting people in the process.
Mr. Edwards and Mr. Terrell should be ecstatic, too. Because a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves does more for diversity in the NBA than a thousand mostly black teams could do. Not only is this team diverse as hell, they are shattering stereotypes as well. Any fans of the lazy caricature of white basketball players as un-athletic would be advised to check into forward Chase Budinger: the kid can fly. And those who still buy into that outdated notion of Europeans players as soft? Nikola Pekovic would like a word with you. Because of teams like the Timberwolves, and the similarly international Toronto Raptors, players all over not just America, but Europe and Asia as well, can look to this team and emulate the playing styles of Budinger and Pekovic just as readily as they can those of African American players like Brandon Roy and Malcolm Lee. That’s the beauty of the modern, global NBA. Because whether the Timberwolves are mostly black, or white, European or Asian is irrelevant. They are a team. And in response to everyone who seeks to make things about anything more than that, particularly where race is concerned, Brandon Roy himself has a simple, yet poignant response in that Tribune article: “It’s just basketball”.
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