Fly Fishing

GRAY

Whoop that Trick Wednesday:
Media Should Chill Out

Look, I get it. Race is a sexy topic. In sports, politics, pop culture....whatever the topic, if someones race is the story, it is automatically more interesting because race is a hot button issue that everyone generally has an opinion on. But the American media pushes the envelope in order to create a buzz and the latest victim of this is Larry Bird.

In a USA Today article, written by a guy who noticed an anomaly and decided to turn it into a race issue, Bob Kravitz asserted that Larry Bird "might" be attempting to build an NBA team dominated by white players. Kravitz suggested that since the Artest incident in 2005, Bird has taken it upon himself to load his roster with more humble, coachable players (white) and avoid thuggish, volatile players (black). The idea and the accusation against Bird is sparked by the fact that while only 10% of players in the NBA are white, while 50% of the Pacers roster is Caucasian. Believers in this white conspiracy theory against Bird point to a 2004 interview with Jim Gray as evidence. During the interview, Bird responded to a question about the lack of white players in the NBA by saying that white America would benefit greatly from having more white players in the NBA for fans to follow.

This assertion is ridiculous. As a GM, Larry Bird may be attracted to players that he feels played like him, but certainly not ones that look like him. Bird is a former player, and all GMs that have that distinction, cannot help but look for a bit of themselves in every player they seek out. For instance, Joe Dumars built an entire team of guys who played like him, scrappy, tough, and great defenders. It resulted in a championship...was he ignoring white players? No. Bird is simply attracted to players that exhibit the skills he used to have. It doesn't surprise me that he's attracted to a sharp shooter like Travis Deiner, nor does it blow my mind that he likes versatile big men who rebound and make free throws like Ty Hansborough and Troy Murphy.


The fact that it is news that Bird's roster is 50% white implies that there is something wrong with having a 1/2 white team. It suggests the idea that clearly white players aren't as good as black ones, so Bird must be up to something if half his team is white. Bob Kravitz, (who's actually one of the rawest columnists ever) needs to be whooped up for making news out of race when its completely irrelevant. This is the NBA, white men CAN jump, and they don't necessarily hoop like the guy pictured above. Though the numbers say the sport is dominated by blacks, we should not get excited, surprised, or even intrigued by whites who excel in the sport, or a team with a large number of white players. These guys aren't Josh or Dave from the office next to you, they're finely tuned athletic machines who can hoop their asses off. Bird doesn't like his 5 white players because they're white.....he loves them because they can play D, they can rebound, and they don't cost much. He's coaching in Indianapolis.....not Harlem.