Hear hear!
An excellent piece on diversity in sports by a guy who seems to know what he is talking about!
Richard E. Lapchick writes on ESPN.com's Page Two about the Europeanization of the NBA. I had listened to Scoop Jackson suggesting a corporate conspiracy by The Man to get the black players out of the NBA. When Lapchick followed up, it turns out that Jackson admitted that it might not really be happening but that is the way it seemed to blacks. Therein lies the problem. We don't even have to really discriminate against blacks, they but need perceive that we are for us to be guilty.
Lapchick rightly points out that the European players are here because they can play the game, in fact the U.S. has fallen behind the world in hoops because we don’t teach kids how to defend, pass or shoot. It is all about driving the lane, one on one breaking a man down and eventually an off balance three pointer clanking away.
It is no coincidence that the best team in the NBA, one that plays the best as a team and the best looking basketball, in general is largely non-US: " The Spurs, the NBA's hottest team entering the playoffs, have four starters and one reserve who are international players."
It is not a white or black thing, it is a basketball thing. Teach young American kids, black and white, to play the game and the tide will change. We no longer live in a world where we are so superior in basketball skills that we can roll over others by showing up. The posturing and garbage from Alan Iverson, Latrell Spreewell and others doesn't help kids learn the fundamentals of the game: passing, rebounding, defending and shooting.
Maybe the NBA should raise the basket and make them learn to shoot again?
No comments:
Post a Comment