weaker caste system in NBA than NFL

[referendum]

It seems to me that there are numerous cases in the NFL of good white players, especially white wide receivers who are not getting their fair shot at playing. However, in the NBA it doesn't seem that there are that many really good white players who are languishing on the bench. There is of course the strange case of Milicic in Detroit, but there are cases like Monia and now Krypapa in Portland who have even been starting recently, or Jasukevics (spelling) in Indiana who has been starting with other Pacer guards injured. I can't really think of too many white basketball players in the NBA who just need the minutes and then will excell.

 

[Southern Knight]

Percentage-wise, football is much "blacker" than basketball these days. College basketball seems to have gotten considerably Whiter over the past 5 years, and I would hope that this effect would percolate up to the pro level. (Consider: Duke and Michigan State usually keep 3 Whites on the floor at any given time. When is the last time you saw a major college football team field a 60% White team?).

I don't mind that the influx of Whites into the league come from Europe (and now South America) rather than the U.S. -- it's better than having no Whites at all -- but it says a lot about our youth sports programs that Lithuania can send as many Whites into the NBA as the United States. Simply put, American White kids are dissuaded from participating in basketball, and the NBA demographics prove this.

 

[KG2422]

I think Linas Kleiza, Matt Carroll, and Zoran Planinic are potential starters.

 

[Don Wassall]

Matt Miller, Bob Sura andWally Szczerbiak have been bounced in and out of the starting lineup. Same with Steve Nash early in his career. The Barry brothers were immediately typecast as journeymen when they entered the NBA. There's been a slew of European players drafted in the first round the past few years but very few are starting. Just as with the NFL it's tougher for whites to earn a starting job and a lot easier for them to lose it.