Issue of race in the NBA

[45otseoj]

It seems that white college stars just aren't translating to today's game.

Who is the best American white player? Kevin Love?

Look no further than the Reddick vs. Morrison.
Neither is a great player in the NBA enough they took the college basketball world by storm.

Who will be the next great white player?

Harangody?

Ferdette?

The cupboard seems pretty bare.

[tornado]

I don't see anyone doing this. ..

our kids' school passed a strict rule on certain apparel & how low the pants hung...
only a few parents complained but they claimed it was a racist rule aimed purely at them and their race..

[Deadguy35]

I do not think NBA Attendance being down has anything to do with race though. MLB attendance was down last year as well.

I agree. If race was the only issue then why is interest in baseball taking such a hit? Yes, it is more diversified now in terms of Latin and Asian players, in contrast to what it was in the 60s and 70s. However, this is balanced out a bit by the decline in the percentage of African Americans playing MLB (down from around 25% in the 70s to around 10% now).

Race is also less of an issue with Generations X and Y in contast to other generations. So while Race could be a factor, it's hardly the only factor involved here.

BBrave--saying the league is "full of" tatted up thugs always getting arrested is way off base. I don't think that is a very high percentage of the players at all.

Perception can cloud reality. Before Larry Bird and Magic entered the league, the NBA was largely unpopular due to not only the lack of white players, but also the rampant drug use. Interest was so low that the NBA finals were televised on tape delay.

David Stern did the right thing by having marketing more player focused as opposed to team focused. A game marketed as Dr. J vs. Kareem was far more interesting than "Sixers vs. Lakers".

Herein lies the current problem with the NBA, which is the lack of marketable players who can generate interest among a very broad group of people. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan were all players who appealed to a wide range of individuals. The same can not be said for Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant.

[runninfiend]

writer touches on the hot subject of race with these words...

"The NBA is in trouble and I don't think there is much dispute about that.
Attendance was down last year and is slightly down so far this season.
Although basketball is supposed to be a team game, it has become more
one-on-one in the NBA than a boxing match. The style has changed and it is
a definite turnoff.

But a major problem with the NBA, one that is virtually never spoken about
honestly, is the issue of race. I have no hard-core evidence. But based on
my past experience in writing about sports, I know that whites ascribe very
different characteristics to black athletes than they do white ones. I also
make a habit of asking every white sports fan I know whether they watch
the NBA. In virtually every instance, they say they once watched the game
but no longer do. When I ask them if it has anything to do with the racial
composition, they do their best to look indignant. But my guess is they felt
very differently about the game when Larry Bird and John Stockton were
playing.

It boils down to this: Are whites losing interest in a game in which the
number of white American players not only continues to dwindle, but no
longer features a superstar?

I don't think talking about any of this makes me a racist. I believe it makes
me a realist. White fans want white superstars, or in the case of the NBA, at
least one white American superstar. Unless the ghosts of Bird and John
Havlicek and Jerry West return to the floor, that isn't going to happen. And
since it isn't going to happen, the NBA will continue to struggle with an
identity crisis that no one wants to publicly acknowledge."

Bissinger goes on to lazily assert that without marquee, American-born,
white NBA players, the league doesn't give white fans anyone to "relate" to,
thus alienating a large swath of the potential ticket buying public."

http://www.bvonmoney.com/2011/02/21/nba-rich-black-men-no-black-players-race-problem/

Interesting.....anyone with a comment??
I watch if my team (the Bulls) are doing well...I have no particular feelings at all about the race of whoever's playing...but guess what??
The "marquee teams in almost all the biggest markets have been struggling of late no matter what the racial composition of their team...
Knicks, Bulls, Pistons, Sixers, etc....all among the leagues biggest markets have struggled for several years.....
I think that has more to do with the drop-off in fans than race does....that and the hoggish one-on-one play...

Uh, actually TV ratings are up 30% this season. Attendance is down, but attendance does NOT necessarily reflect fan interest. It's EXPENSIVE to go to an NBA game. The facts pretty much invalidate the whole race argument. This article looks like a pretty feeble attempt to interject a racial theory where one doesn't exist.

I would also refute his "style" argument. The game is less thuggish than it was in the 80s when a lot more overtly physical play was allowed. I have re-discovered the NBA in the last few years and if you watch the games you realize a lot of that talk is simply inaccurate. Sure, there are a lot of one-on-one iso plays, but that's not all, just watch this Bulls team, they play good solid defense every game and run team-oriented sets.

I can appreciate the NBA, NCAA, and even Euroleauge. Euro ball is fun to watch, even with less talent than the NBA, it relies a lot more on passing and outside shooting than dribble drive penetration. Still, you can't dispute that the best ball is played in the NBA both in terms of pure athleticism and basketball talent.

[45otseoj]

Interesting take on race in basketball recruting

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2011/02/by_joe_henricksen_true_story.html

[srw]

Im not much of an nba fan..

But i think its because their are too many games, and too many teams make the playoffs..

take it down to a 40 game season, where the games meant something on any given night, and i think i might be more interested..

[jrish12]

As far as attendance goes, I think it is getting like all the major sports. Who wants to spend $60.00 a ticket or more to sit in the rafters when you can see it better at home? Want a "good" seat for the game? Better cash that paycheck because it's gonna cost ya big time. You say you want to take your family to a game? Sure, go ahead....or you could take a nice three day vacation....

Exactly, I think I read somewhere that outside of the NFL the NBA is the most expensive professional sporting event to attend. With HDTV, you can pretty much see the game better than you could if you were in the cheap seats anyway.

[Chico]

Im not much of an nba fan..

But i think its because their are too many games, and too many teams make the playoffs..

take it down to a 40 game season, where the games meant something on any given night, and i think i might be more interested..

Gotta pay those salaries somehow. Not a big fan either. All I do is check the box scores to see how AP and SL are doing.

[houstontxbrave]

It seems that white college stars just aren't translating to today's game.

Who is the best American white player? Kevin Love?

Look no further than the Reddick vs. Morrison.
Neither is a great player in the NBA enough they took the college basketball world by storm.

Who will be the next great white player?

Harangody?

Ferdette?

The cupboard seems pretty bare.

Hansbrough?

Other then Bird, McHale, maybe Stockton who exactly that was white and US born could be considered a "star"?

Good players Majerle, Price, Hornacek, Mullin, Chambers but unless you want to go back to Jerry West, Havlicek, Walton, there really have not been any "star" white US born players in the NBA.

David Lee, Kevin Love and maybe Kirk Hinrich and Kaman are about it for todays US born white players.

My point is the color of white players has never really influenced the NBA atleast in modern times because very few white US born players have ever made a very significant impact.

[runninfiend]

Hansbrough?

Other then Bird, McHale, maybe Stockton who exactly that was white and US born could be considered a "star"?

Good players Majerle, Price, Hornacek, Mullin, Chambers but unless you want to go back to Jerry West, Havlicek, Walton, there really have not been any "star" white US born players in the NBA.

David Lee, Kevin Love and maybe Kirk Hinrich and Kaman are about it for todays US born white players.

My point is the color of white players has never really influenced the NBA atleast in modern times because very few white US born players have ever made a very significant impact.

Who cares if a star player is black or white??? Isn't a player just a player, regardless of skin color? Last time I checked it was 2011 not 1951.

[houstontxbrave]

Who cares if a star player is black or white??? Isn't a player just a player, regardless of skin color? Last time I checked it was 2011 not 1951.

Settle down. The title to the thread was about race I was just pointing out that there really have never been many "star" white US born players. Read the entire thread before you go off the deep end.

[tornado]

Who cares if a star player is black or white??? Isn't a player just a player, regardless of skin color? Last time I checked it was 2011 not 1951.

you might think so but college coaches and recruiters actually do sometimes ask whether a player is white or black before the bother to even go watch the kid play...
I know you might find this hard to believe, but I also know Da Coach will back me up on this...

I have been told by BOTH high school football coaches and high school basketball coaches, that recruiters who call on the phone about a player they might be in the early stages of evaluating and wanting to recruit -- especially about running backs, defensive backs, post players, and shooting guards -- will ask if they are white or Black ...
More often than not, if the answer is white, they do not visit to evaluate the recruit!

I see where others are rarely bold enough to also mention this fact...but not often...

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/21/race-could-be-holding-back-toby-gerhart/

[Da Coach]

A lot of college football coaches recruit only black players for certain positions like running back. It's been that way a long time.-

http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/Orlando_01.htm

[Da Coach]

Another interesting blog -

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2011/02/by_joe_henricksen_true_story.html

[45otseoj]

Another interesting blog -
http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsrepor...rue_story.html

check the first page of the thread