The headlines recently in the NBA were dominated by a big market team with very little going for them on the court. I’m referring to, of course, the New York Knicks. If you’ve turned on Sports Center in the past few weeks, you have had the misfortune of hearing about how the front office has pushed out their biggest star, Carmelo Anthony, and you have also heard about the owner of the club standing by as an all-time great Knick, Charles Oakley, was dragged out of Madison Square Garden by security.
Both of these stories have been difficult to watch, and both could be viewed as crucial given the context of the month in which they have happened. It is February, and in the United States that also means that we are in the middle of Black History Month. Both of these conflicts were perpetrated by white men who are a part of the front office and ownership of the Knicks against black men who are, or were, important players for this historic franchise.
The disparity in race between the men who play and the men who run the show in American professional sports is noticeable at best and in many cases, very concerning. Phil Jackson, the current president of the Knicks, and Anthony’s situation doesn’t have quite the same racial tension as wwwwwwthe beef between Charles Oakley and James Dolan. Jackson did catch some flack for his comments about LeBron James’ business associates and fellow NBA friends earlier this season, using the term “posse” to describe them. Other than this incident though, Jackson just seems to be covering up for some front office moves that haven’t worked out since his most recent stint in Madison Square Garden began. Race certainly doesn’t play a role in every single interaction between front office executives and players, but this is a very specific example of that phenomenon.
Dolan, on the other hand, has been known for his brashness and short-sightedness as the principle owner of the Knicks. An example of his inability to connect with players and his issues with maintaining relationships was on display one recent Sunday when the Knicks hosted the Spurs.
Latrell Sprewell, a fan favorite in New York during the late 90s, came back to the Garden for the first time since 2003. He was traded away to the dismay of fans for murky reasons, but Sprewell came back with a vengeance when his Timberwolves visited New York for his first homecoming after the trade. He dropped 31 points, and he actively sought out Dolan to trash talk him during the game. Obviously, there were mistakes made on both sides of this conflict but it illustrates the point that race plays a huge role in sports today.
In the NBA there are 28 white majority owners, one Indian owner, and one black owner. That black owner? Michael Jordan. Of the 30 coaches in the NBA during the 2015-2016 season, only seven were persons of color. That number is down 50 percent from the year before.
Is there a different standard for black men to be coaches and front office personnel in the NBA and other sports leagues? Or could it be that it’s just taking time for black men to catch up to their white counter parts in terms of education and opportunity?
There’s absolutely no way that a white billionaire can understand the plight of a black man coming from nothing to the NBA. These men deserve to have their interests looked after, and it’s probably difficult to do that when the people trusted with that task don’t understand a players’ interests in the first place. This issue needs to be talked about as the NBA continues to evolve, shaping American culture in the process.
Photo Courtesy of Michael Tipton