Busting the "Old Homeboys" Network

Europe invades the NBA

by Tom Adkins
07/01/03

They are coming from across the oceans. They are big, strong, powerful, nimble, relentless. And they are taking away American jobs. Worst of all, they are taking jobs from America's greatest victims: black Americans. Who are these dastardly foreign agents?

This year, a record twenty-one out of fifty-eight players from foreign countries were taken in the National Basketball Association draft. For the most part, they are competing for the roster spots of America's most pampered "victims," the black NBA player. And black players, black pundits, black sportsmen and almost anyone who can speak ebonics are crying foul.

See, beyond a few tokens like John Stockton and Larry Byrd, NBA roster spots have been reserved for black players only. White intrusion has been tolerated as long as they didn't get too "uppity." Ten years ago, Over 95% of NBA players were black. And they kept it that way. A good ol' Homeboy network, you might say.

But over the last few years, a trend has taken place. While white American players have made a modest comeback, European players have made serious infiltrations. This year, almost half the draft is European. And the black Jim Crows of the NBA smell a racial conspiracy! ESPN had a panel of black players, writers and political professor types claiming that "white coaches and general managers want a team that reflects themselves." Sure. That's why white coach Rick Carlisle, Detroit's "Coach of the Year" in 2002, was summarily fired upon improving his team for two straight years and getting to the Conference finals. It wasn't good enough. Once making millions, now he's flipping burgers. Think he cares whether his starting power forward was white or black?

Still, black players are taking this insurgency seriously. But instead of resorting to the on-court victories that opened the door to integration 40 years ago, they have been well-trained in the art of liberal victim politics. Laughably, they are crying "racism" in a league that has fewer white men than you might find at a Nation of Islam rally. And they haven't exactly done their homework. Two of the new Euro draftees would be classified under our government racial tracking system as Hispanic. One is Turkish. One is Chinese. And seven have black skin.

But it's easy to see how the knee-jerking race-baiters fooled themselves. Paccelis Morlende, Malick Badiane, Mickael Pietrus, Boris Diaw-Riffiod are all French. Sofoklis Shortsanitis is Greek. All are quite black. Yet their parents didn't get caught up in America's black separatist culture. Instead, they gave their children names that blended with their country and its culture. Actually, that has a deeper meaning than you might expect. The great attraction to European players isn't just their skills. It's their attitude. The European game is well-schooled in the lost art of team play, which makes a coaches job easier, and victory possible.

But black American athletic culture has embraced the hip-hop gangsta "I ain't gotta listen to nobody" prima donna attitude. And the arrogance that started with Muhammed Ali has degenerated into trash-talking, chest-pounding, synchronized team celebrations over the most average accomplishments. And that is a major problem for coaches who need to win. Black American sportsmanship has become an ugly representation that, unfortunately, accurately reflects modern black culture, right down to the part where they start failing and blaming everyone else. That is why the door has opened to the "team first" Europeans.

It is a great irony that the NBA draft took place 4 days after Sandra Day O'Connor came out of her Supreme Court lair, saw her shadow, and declared 25 more years of racism. And of course, she made it so by anointing the first Supreme Court decision to condone institutionalized racism since the 1964 Civil Rights act. That irony is underscored by sports history, which ignored such bogus racial engineering as "diversity" and instead overcame racism by exalting competition. Over this same period of time, NBA talent has reached levels of greatness unimagined 40 years ago when success and victory became the most prized goal, thus opening the door to unbridled competition. And who won? Black athletes soundly defeated all rivals. Yet we expect the black scholar to fail the same challenge. How racist. Now, the same black American athletes have forgotten their own history, and have fallen to that soft bigotry of low expectations and complacency. The doors to reintegrating the NBA to the world aren't being kicked in by insurgents. They are rotting from the inside.