One could say that the
NBA is primarily dominated by players of African-American descent. Basketball
has become known as a Black man’s sport. The majority of the players within the
NBA are African-American. It wasn’t always like this but for the most of the
life of the NBA it has been like this. There are still several big
time/dominating white players as well as European players, but they don’t come
close to decorating the league like Black players do. It seems as though some individuals might have a
bit of a problem with this being the reality. The Minnesota Timberwolves have
been a team that has attempted to recreate the image of the NBA. Of the fifteen
players on the Timberwolves roster, only five of the players are Black. In
their article “Timberwolves: Pale in comparison to the rest of the NBA” Jerry
Zgoda and Dennis Brackin explain that “American-born black players constituted
78 percent of roster spots last season and have been at least 75 percent since
1991-92.” Some individuals believe that the mostly White team is a strategy by
the organization to sell tickets since the majority of the Timberwolves fans
are White.
The
Minnesota Timberwolves have been nicknamed the “Cream Team” due to the fair
skin color of the majority of their team. I disagree with this strategy and do
not believe that any professional sports team should try and make their team
mostly one race. It should all be about who the best players are. Trying to
make your team full of one race is segregation against other players. The fact
that there is not an African-American in the front office of the organization
is also very odd. Anyways, it goes without saying that the Timberwolves haven’t
been as good as they once were with Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury (both
Black players) in a long time.
Written By: Janelle Campbell
Written By: Janelle Campbell
By: Taylor Cook
ReplyDeleteI am glad that someone posted about this topic because I was going to write about this also, but instead I will just comment on it! I was watching the Lakers vs. the Timberwolves the other night on ESPN and I was very intrigued because of the discussion we had in class about the "cream team" topic. While watching the game it really dawned on me that the Timberwolves do have an extraordinary amount of white players on their roster. It made me think very hard about if they really are trying to put together a team of only white players so that the white audience can stay entertained. I was also thinking that maybe they could be trying to keep a team of successful white players to show the white audience that they can still be "white" and make into the NBA. Personally, I do not believe that they would put together an all white team for any reason, i just think that it is a coincidence that the media is trying to exploit for higher ratings. I guess we will find out as the years go on if this is a publicity stunt, or just plain dumb luck.
Hey Janelle, basketball was once a white sport and African-American men were not allowed to play. I believe that the best players play, in this case African-Americans are dominant in this game. One’s race should not be the deciding factor for him/her to join a team. I love basketball and I watch the NBA every now and then but honestly, I didn’t realize that the Minnesota Timberwolves had majority white players until when discussed in the class.
ReplyDeleteI do not know whether the Wolves are trying to prove something or they just like European players better. Another thing I notice is that Americans and Europeans play a different style of basketball. The owner and coaches from the Wolves might like the European style better. If this doesn’t work for the Wolves, they must get the best players eventually.
Lastly, there must be a reason why the majority of players in the NBA are African-Americans. I think one of the factors is African-Americans are exposed to basketball their whole lives. If dad played basketball, his son/daughter will and the younger brother/sister will. Why don’t we see more players that are Asian, Mexican, or any other race?
-Marcus Kok
I personally am not a fan of the NBA and personally feel like it’s starting to become so overrated and the All-Star game is a complete joke. Besides that, ever since I was a little kid whenever I turned on the TV to watch a basketball game most of the players were African-American. I have no problem with this whatsoever because I believe that the best player should play regardless of skin color. When I first heard about the Minnesota Timberwolves being called the “Cream Team” in class it didn’t really bother me at all. I believed this was because based on my beliefs that the best man plays. At my high school this was true because our basketball team was basically half white and half African-American and the best player always played no matter what. So in my mind I feel like the Timberwolves organization is choosing players for their team based on their talent and who can best help the organization as a whole. My perception of this whole situation is that I feel the media is making a big deal out of nothing.
ReplyDeleteBy Josh Gibson
Hello! I find this to be an interesting topic. I never really thought about racial issues in the National Basketball Association. I was aware that there were plenty of African Americans in the association but never thought it was a big deal or not. I agree with a number of comments listed above. I feel as though the league should focus on finding extravagant talent regardless of their color. It may be somewhat questionable that a team may not have a lot of African Americans but I wouldn't necessarily address the team as Cream Team. I also agree with Josh, I feel as though the media is making a big deal out of nothing. I think that they are actually bringing people to the idea of thinking that race is involved. Whenever I watch basketball, the color of their skin is the furthest thing from my mind.
ReplyDeleteBy: Angel Akinkuoye
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think the argument that Minnesota is actively trying to acquire white players is a little bit ridiculous. The roster features numerous international players that don't fit into traditional American perspectives of black and white such as J.J. Barea (Puerto Rico), Andrei Kirilenko (Russia), Nikola Pekovic (Montenegro), Mikael Gelabale (France), Ricky Rubio (Spain) and, Alexei Shved (Russia). These players were brought in not because of their skin color but because they were the best players Minnesota could get their hands on. The point of contention should be with their front office not having any racially diverse executives not the racial composition of their roster. We should be applauding them for building a truly international team that features 6 players from 5 different countries playing with both black and white players from the United States.
ReplyDeleteBy Max Perry
By: Taylor Brown
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this blog post I think I would have to completely agree with you. I think it is ridiculous that a professional sports team would attempt to do this in order to sell tickets. As an NBA fan, my main interest if I were to go to a game would be to see the best players on the court, not be interested in the fact that they are all white players? I think this is outrageous, and though I'm not sure the NBA can do much about this, I think the Minnesota fans should come together and try and make a point to the organization that it is not ok and is not what is best for teh franchise. It is sad that there are still people like that in the world today and I hope that something can be done about this so that the Minnesota fans can enjoy seeing the best team possible on the floor, NOT the "cream team".
I could not agree more. People these days are buying into race way too much and want to constantly put the "race tag" on everything. This is why I absolutely dispise the Rooney Rule in the NFL. Having to interview a Black coach to try and make the NFL more diverse is ridiculous. It is just like the NBA, if you are a good basketball player then you will play. It just so happens that most of the good basketball players are black. So I will raise the question... Should NBA teams have to have a certain amount of white players on their team or have a certain amount of white players tryout since basketball is extremely one race sided?
ReplyDeleteTaylor Redd