Stern is NOT racist

Reppin Terror Squad harder than Fat Joe

Well if he was a racist, it would not be the brightest move to be in a room with a group of huge black guys!

I did not like the way Stern was talking to the players, but I do not view Stern as racist. While some may see him as a power monger and as making the NBA "soft", I think some of the things he gets criticized for border on ridiculous. He is not perfect, but I think he has done a lot of good things in marketing not only the NBA, but basketball in general. It has never seemed to be an issue of race with Stern, just seems to be taken that way due to his running a league with a majority of players a different race than he is.

Most jobs have a dress code. Most jobs do not permit you to taunt and swear at people. Believe me, I understand why people dislike these things, but I do not think it is due to racism that they exist. The game does get heated, and I felt like some of the T’s last year were ridiculous, but the intent was not harmful. Seems like at the very least, he is working hard on getting a deal done, which is cool with me. He has not handled the lockout perfectly in the least, and I do not believe everything he has said, but I do believe that he is not racist.

Etan Thomas wrote a piece for hoopshype comparing the NBA with slavery talking about how they shouldn’t use terms like “owners” or “trading block” as well as how the players are treated. I’m sure the men and women who had to go through real life slavery share his pain and sympathize with today’s NBA players.

I think it would be a surreal experience to be traded; however, one who is transferred to another office or job cite in another city would feel that same way.  The owner of the the company I work at is reffered to as the owner, and I work for him.  I feel slavery is a huge embarassment and an awful part of American history, and I feel extremely sypathetic for those who’s families had to endure that kind of cruelty and the hurt it resonates to this day, but to refer to the NBA as an organization comparable to slavery is not accurate, in my opinion.

Every organization has good and bad, and you as an employee have to evaluate whether you can work there or if it comprimises your morals.  Etan Thomas is a smart guy, and entitled to his opninon, and I did not read the article. Maybe it was just a peice to provoke thought, and not to codemn the NBA, but if the NBA is slavery… What is a fast food restaurant that pays employees 7.50 and hour? What is a company who doesn’t offer insurance to it’s full time employees?  NBA players of races and nationalities do great things to give back to the community and start up wonderful charities, but if they feel that victimized while making millions of dollars playing the game they love, I feel they have become detached from what the every day person has to do to make ends meat.

On a more serious note after my joke about Stern being in a room full of huge black guys, I wonder if perhaps a lot of the player’s perception of David Stern and his of their’s could be generational. David Stern is 70 next years and grew up in the 1940’s and 1950’s perhaps brought up by people who were born in the early part of the 1900’s, so his outlook on life and values is probably far different than a player who was born in the mid 1980’s or later.

Stern is from a Jewish family so I would find it surprising if he was racist given the persecution his race were suffering when he was born.

As regards Etan Thomas’s comments, team owners are just that so unless they are VP of the company you tend to use that title. Trading block is a term used in most US sports which have a trading system and I cannot see the link to slavery unless it was someone who was very politically correct and the sort of person who would say "chairperson" rather than chairman etc.

Etan Thomas is certainly one of the most educated players in the NBA having released poetry books, been a peace activist and involved in political and charity work over a number of years so his words were not an uninformed throw away comment but personally I don’t agree with them even though I respect Etan as a person.