obviously i'll have something to say about this...

I'm hardly jealous, the man has earned what he's got for good reason. I love most of his columns. I won't ever be known like Whitlock and I'm fine with that. But he took advantage of that situation to get TV appearances on CNN and then Oprah.

p.s. I love how when someone disagrees with Whitlock or someone like him, someone immediately calls it jealousy. Nevermind that some of us might have different opinions of the same situations. Why can't someone just not like a column?

 

The way Gene put it, it was "African-American." Not sure if those were Rhoden's words, or not.
But it was a ludicrous statement, regardless.
Rhoden's contention that teams look around the world for talent in order to make the league whiter is not only offensive, it's ignorant. If he wants to criticize the league for contributing to a culture that is diminishing the development of young African-American basketball players, cool. Because it is/has. But teams look overseas for players to get the best players they can, and that has included many players of different races (Barbosa, Diaw, Parker, Yao).

 

For years, there has been a theory that people don't want to pay to see an all-black NBA. When the Knickerbockers fielded an all-black team, they were called the Niggerbockers.

 

And what year was that? 1965?

I don't think the color of the teams skin matters to fans for the most part. They care more that they win and don't get arrested when they hit the town.

 

Edited for brevity.

 

Try as late as 1985.

 

Not the first time in my career that's happened.

 

Wojo nailed it when he offered why it may not change in the next few years...
It isn't easy out there. The entry-level pay stinks. The hours are insane. The travel is gruesome. The deadlines age you. The demands ruin marriages. The athletes can be anywhere from engaging to insufferable. More leagues and teams are trying to control the message. There are ethical land mines. And did I mention life-threatening press box food?
I've never seen our industry put in a nutshell in one graph until now.

 

Ok, still 22 years ago. I think we've come a lot further since then.

 

In some ways yes. In some ways no.

 

But the overriding point is this. If Bill Rhoden thinks that in 18 years we're going to see an NBA with no African American's playing in it, when currently I think the figure is around 80-85%, he's seriously delusional.

 

Just one innocent question for Whitlock...

If this isn't about you, then why start a thread saying, "I'll have something to say about this..." until you, y'know, actually have something to say?