Congradulations Steve Nash
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Other Voices: Nash's MVP win should be reason for rejoicing
Friday, May 13, 2005
By RAY MCNULTY
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
There is no crime in raising the matter of race when discussing the voting for this season's NBA MVP Award.
Indeed, it's something that should be mentioned.
Even heralded.
But not for the reasons suggested by some of my wrong-headed media brethren.
They're asking the wrong question.
The question shouldn't be: Did Steve Nash, the Phoenix Suns' indispensable point guard and passing whiz extraordinaire, win the award because he's white?
It should be: Why aren't we celebrating the fact that a white player -- especially a small, gym-rat type -- won an award in a league dominated by black players?
We celebrated the much-anticipated arrival of Tiger Woods, who brought black Americans to the golf course.
We celebrated the successes of the Williams sisters, who gave black Americans a reason to care about tennis.
Fifty-eight years later, we still celebrate the pride, poise and perseverance of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball and changed the face of sports in America.
And if the NHL hadn't committed suicide, we'd probably be celebrating the emergence of Jarome Iginla, the black captain of the Calgary Flames, as the world's best hockey player.
All of them were, or are, trailblazers.
Each of them proved to the next generation of blacks that they could play any sport they wanted -- and, if they had enough talent and desire and work ethic, they could compete at the highest levels.
Woods is chasing Nicklaus. Serena Williams is chasing Navratilova. Robinson remains the most important black athlete in the history of American sport. And Iginla, if the NHL ever skates again, has a chance to be hockey's first black superstar.
Their accomplishments -- and the impact they had, or will have, on their sport and in society -- are worthy of celebration.
But Nash, the NBA's first white MVP since Larry Bird in 1985-86, deserves similar recognition.
For the better part of the past two decades, the NBA was a predominantly black league. White stars were rare. No less an authority than Bird, a Hall of Fame player who has coached and works as a team executive, recently referred to basketball as a "black man's game."
Maybe it was mere myth.
Maybe not.
But, surely, more than a few white kids in America looked at the NBA and saw nobody that looked like them -- just as black kids used to look at golf, tennis and hockey.
How many? How many might've been able to make it but chose another sport? We'll never know.
But now, perhaps, some white kids will see things differently.
They'll see that mostly white European teams were able to beat the NBA's best at the Olympics. They'll see a growing number of white faces around the league -- stars such as Dirk Nowitzki and Manu Ginobili, and solid players such as Luke Ridnour and Brent Barry. They'll see Nash, the MVP.
Who is white.
And who is showing the next generation of white kids that basketball isn't necessarily a black man's game, that playing in the NBA is possible, that they have a chance, too.
So why aren't we celebrating?
Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/224100_mvp13.html
Other Voices: Nash's MVP win should be reason for rejoicing
Friday, May 13, 2005
By RAY MCNULTY
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
There is no crime in raising the matter of race when discussing the voting for this season's NBA MVP Award.
Indeed, it's something that should be mentioned.
Even heralded.
But not for the reasons suggested by some of my wrong-headed media brethren.
They're asking the wrong question.
The question shouldn't be: Did Steve Nash, the Phoenix Suns' indispensable point guard and passing whiz extraordinaire, win the award because he's white?
It should be: Why aren't we celebrating the fact that a white player -- especially a small, gym-rat type -- won an award in a league dominated by black players?
We celebrated the much-anticipated arrival of Tiger Woods, who brought black Americans to the golf course.
We celebrated the successes of the Williams sisters, who gave black Americans a reason to care about tennis.
Fifty-eight years later, we still celebrate the pride, poise and perseverance of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball and changed the face of sports in America.
And if the NHL hadn't committed suicide, we'd probably be celebrating the emergence of Jarome Iginla, the black captain of the Calgary Flames, as the world's best hockey player.
All of them were, or are, trailblazers.
Each of them proved to the next generation of blacks that they could play any sport they wanted -- and, if they had enough talent and desire and work ethic, they could compete at the highest levels.
Woods is chasing Nicklaus. Serena Williams is chasing Navratilova. Robinson remains the most important black athlete in the history of American sport. And Iginla, if the NHL ever skates again, has a chance to be hockey's first black superstar.
Their accomplishments -- and the impact they had, or will have, on their sport and in society -- are worthy of celebration.
But Nash, the NBA's first white MVP since Larry Bird in 1985-86, deserves similar recognition.
For the better part of the past two decades, the NBA was a predominantly black league. White stars were rare. No less an authority than Bird, a Hall of Fame player who has coached and works as a team executive, recently referred to basketball as a "black man's game."
Maybe it was mere myth.
Maybe not.
But, surely, more than a few white kids in America looked at the NBA and saw nobody that looked like them -- just as black kids used to look at golf, tennis and hockey.
How many? How many might've been able to make it but chose another sport? We'll never know.
But now, perhaps, some white kids will see things differently.
They'll see that mostly white European teams were able to beat the NBA's best at the Olympics. They'll see a growing number of white faces around the league -- stars such as Dirk Nowitzki and Manu Ginobili, and solid players such as Luke Ridnour and Brent Barry. They'll see Nash, the MVP.
Who is white.
And who is showing the next generation of white kids that basketball isn't necessarily a black man's game, that playing in the NBA is possible, that they have a chance, too.
So why aren't we celebrating?
Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/224100_mvp13.html
white lightning
Hall of Famer
- Joined
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I just don't understand the Suns sometimes.They have made horrible moves in the off season again.They did it years ago after the 93 NBA finals that they barely lost to the Bulls.They traded away guys like Dan Majerle and others.The team this season will be totally different.I feel bad for Nash because they had a descent team and now they will proably barely make the playoffs.Anything to keep the MVP down and the Suns wonder why they have never won a nba championship.
Jimmy Chitwood
Hall of Famer
if you want to question off-season moves in the NBA, there are MANY that make no sense. but the one that caught my eye was the Spurs, arguably the most unselfish team in the NBA, signing one of the biggest ball hogs in NBA history in nick "the *ick" van exel.
i approve of their signing of michael finley, a rare unselfish black star who is willing to play tough defense and not shoot EVERY shot (much like bruce bowen), but van exel has been nothing but a cancer everywhere he has played! the Spurs have great chemistry, and finley will surely fit in, but van exel is about as good a fit as kobe was for shaq! it doesn't make ANY sense at all.
i approve of their signing of michael finley, a rare unselfish black star who is willing to play tough defense and not shoot EVERY shot (much like bruce bowen), but van exel has been nothing but a cancer everywhere he has played! the Spurs have great chemistry, and finley will surely fit in, but van exel is about as good a fit as kobe was for shaq! it doesn't make ANY sense at all.
They're going to be so crowded in the 1-3 positions. Parker, Van Exel, Udrih, Ginobili, Bowen, Finley, Barry, I assume that they'll let go of Brown (and who else, I wonder.) How are they going to spread the minutes around?
Just don't mess with our man, Ginobili, one of the most talented, athletic, skilled, and versatile players in the game!
Just don't mess with our man, Ginobili, one of the most talented, athletic, skilled, and versatile players in the game!
G
Guest
Guest
Just don't mess with our man, Ginobili, one of the most talented, athletic,
skilled, and versatile players in the game! [/QUOTE]
Also, one of the most hispanic
Too bad Nash had to leave his Germanic counterpart in Dallas to have his
best season. That's probably because is a soft, 7-foot jump shooting
coward who couldn't even do that in last years playoffs.
skilled, and versatile players in the game! [/QUOTE]
Also, one of the most hispanic
Too bad Nash had to leave his Germanic counterpart in Dallas to have his
best season. That's probably because is a soft, 7-foot jump shooting
coward who couldn't even do that in last years playoffs.
Emanuel David Ginóbili (born July 28, 1977 in BahÃÂa Blanca, Argentina), also known as Manu Ginobili, is an Argentine basketball player. He is a member of the Argentine national basketball team and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. He is generally regarded as one of the finest basketball players ever to come from Argentina, and indeed from South America. Like many Argentines, Ginobili is a descendant of Italian immigrants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Ginobili
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Ginobili
White Shogun
Hall of Famer
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2005
- Messages
- 6,285
More info from Wikipedia:
You can be white and be Hispanic at the same time, black, mulatto, or mestizo, too.
Its a wonder to me how Hispanic derived its own racial category in the census in the first place.
You can be white and be Hispanic at the same time, black, mulatto, or mestizo, too.
Its a wonder to me how Hispanic derived its own racial category in the census in the first place.