Great Lake State-
Tou might not have noticed, but your posts have just a trace of
arrogance about them. The primary reason I was mistaken about how high
McHale and Bird were drafted was because I wasn't following basketball
at all at that time. I completely lost interest in the NBA, and them
even NCAA basketball, around the late 70s or so. It was not only the
fact that fewer and fewer whites were playing, it was the also the
style of play. I didn't like the fact that all those black players were
getting away with traveling, palming the ball, elbowing and assorted
other forms of illegal physical contact. The only reason I have
come to follow it again over the past few years is because my son loves
the game. I have also been coaching youth basketball for the past
several seasons, for the same reason. So, there is a gap in my
basketball knowledge spanning from the late 70s to the mid-90s.
As for Pat Bradley, never heard of him. Again, I had no interest in
watching those all-black teams like Arkansas, Georgetown, etc. I do
know that the year they won the championship, my son was just getting
into the sport, and their leading scorer then couldn't have been white,
because they didn't play any white players. It's possible I may be
mistaken about that, because I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to
any of their tournament games that I watched with my son. Still, if
their leading scorer then was white, I can't believe I wouldn't have
noticed that. Regardless, if this black coach had one white
player during his tenure at Arkansas, that hardly makes him a lover of
"diversity." Even Tubby Smith was playing a white point guard in
this year's tournament. That's a first, but it doesn't negate the
obvious fact that he strongly prefers black players. Would our society
be satisfied if a white coach had started one black basketball player
during a decade or more of coaching? Don't think so-they'd be launching
a real investigation into why his team wasn't more "diverse" (which, of
course, doesn't mean that at all-it means more black).
And my personal anecdote, told to me by a black friend, is certainly a
fact in my book. Another tidbit along these lines, regarding John
Thompson's obvious anti-white feelings, was published in the old
Washington Star newspaper back in the mid-70s or so. An outraged white
fan actually had a letter published on the editorial page, in which he
demanded to know why none of the reporters covering Thompson ever wrote
or spoke about his racist language during games. This guy was sitting
near the court at a Duke-Maryland game, and he said that Thompson was
berating the white refs constantly, using racial epithets, and also
shouted at Maryland coach Lefty Driesell several times, calling him
some choice racist names. There was no answer to this letter, of
course, and I'm amazed it was published. I doubt that this game was a
one-time aberation, and combined with many of his public comments, as
well as my friend's personal experience, it is most certainly a "fact"
in my mind that John Thompson is a vile racist who doesn't like white
people.
It's nice that you'd like to see more whites in the NBA (how about the
NFL, too?) From what I've read of your posts, that view doesn't come
through loud and clear.
