Where Have all of the White NBA Players Gone?
Inquiring minds on the Utah Jazz want to know, it seems.
No, seriously. For reasons not yet clear, someone on the Jazz approached Salt Lake Tribune hoops scribe Ross Siller and wanted him to figure out if the white American ballplayer was a “dying breed” in the Association.
Here are Siller’s findings:
There’s a perception that white American players are a dying breed, and this player was interested in whether that was the case. It took me a couple of days to go through all the rosters, but I don’t think the evidence necessarily supports the belief.
There are 46 white Americans out of 432 players on current NBA rosters. That’s 10.6 percent of the entire league and about 1.5 white guys on average per team. Only Atlanta, Detroit, Memphis and Washington have no white American players.
Another factor hurting the dying breed argument: Of those 46 white American players, 14 have played three or fewer years in the NBA. That group includes rookies Kevin Love and Joe Alexander, which suggests there are more players in the pipeline.
So, there you have it. Nothing to worry about, Utah: plenty of white guys to go around.
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Young Buck is in the driver’s seat.
No need too do this Slam. Just a make a few more dollors. No need… No need at all.
Alright, fine, I’ll add Bill Walton, but I still don’t think hippies are American.
SG-West
SF- Bird
PF- Mikan
C- Walton
(Hot Rod Rundley)
Somebody know if that´s true? cause if it´s I think that 71 are more than 61
SG- JJ Reddick
SF- Adam Morrison or Luke Jackson
PF- Mark Pope or Josh McRoberts
C- Bryant Reeves
Why the focus on white, American-born players? Doesn’t that seem a little troubling?
I mean, if you play for Utah, aren’t you pretty much in white NBA player heaven? Is there a safer haven for a white NBA player than Utah?
SG-Petrovich
SF-Kukoc
PF-Dirk
C-Sabonis
shane heal
andrew gaze
andrew bogut
chris anstey
Just saying.
Killer!
All-time White non-American team PG-Nash
SG-Petrovich
SF-Kukoc
PF-Dirk
C-Sabonis Ken that starting 5 could have won a championship hands down !!!! L
PG:Pat Burke
SG:Pat Burke
SF:Pat Burke
PF:Pat Burke
C:Pat Burke.
SG: Mark Price
SF: Chris Mullen
PF: Larry Bird
C: Kevin McHale
6th: Tom Chambers
7th: Jason Williams
8th: Dan Majerle
9th: Bob Cousy
10th: Pete Maravich NOTICE: I am not saying these are the ten best ever, I left some HOF’ers out. I just put the ones I like best.
Ukic
Kapono
Hump
Bargnani Last year it was even worse with Delfino and Garbs. I guess that’s what happens when you try to draft or sign only European players. Oh, and BTW, the white experiment isn’t working for Toronto.
You watched Pete Maravich play?
And if losing to Manure over the weekend helps keep L’pool from winning the league, I’ll only be to happy to have helped.
Seems to me like just another example of the NBA perpetuating the racist stereotype that white players are thugs.
Now, with Siller’s findings, it’s apparent that the NBA is trying to slowly phase out these “thuggish” players, one superiorly-talented black player at a time.
2. Everton!!! Liverpool are way better, they’ll win the premiership this season, i probably know about Football, living in Britain
3. Can someone put a salary cap on Man City?
Justin:In fairness,I think the whole rap equates to violence image is older than Mutombo,seeing as rap is now THE mainstream popular music and the most successful rappers are the tired old stereotypical sh*theaps whose entire material consists of telling you that they 1)now have a lot of money 2)would like you to appreciate the significance of this fact and 3)at one time or another in their lives did not have this kind of fiscal comfort.
And yes before anyone says it,I know I have to look for good rap,it’s getting harder and I’m a lazy,lazy person.
I guess if we can have stories about why there are so few black players in baseball then we should have stories about the lack of white American players in basketball.
But, I think it’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophesy. When I was growing up, after a certain age the white kids just didn’t care as much about basketball and many of them felt like it was a black kids sport. They were more focused on baseball and football. Black kids abandoned baseball early as well.
If kids keep getting told that a sport isn’t for them, they won’t spend time playing it. And they won’t get good enough to get to the NBA.
I grew up in the South. Down here, stuff is still pretty segregated, just not legally. The white kids would field several teams from the same recreational park for baseball, but would struggle to field one team for basketball, and often wouldn’t even participate after a certain age. You would hear parents and kids say stuff like “Well, their supposed to win at that” when black kids would beat them at basketball. Maybe it wasn’t everywhere, but that was the case where I grew up. Anybody ever read the book Darwin’s Athletes? It’s an interesting read on how race and economic class influences what sports people participate in.
2. White guys, on average, are not as explosive (fast and quick) as black guys.
3. Black guys, on average, have bigger hands and longer limbs than white guys (a more conducive body type for basketball).
4. Black guys, on average, play way more basketball in their youth than white guys. Someone should do a study on this…. Someone should do a study….
The truth is, there are very few physical differences between blacks and whites on a macro level. The reason some black kids show athletic skills that white kids often don’t have is because most of the time they devote more time to particular sports.
White men outnumber everybody else in baseball, but nobody assumes that’s because they’re bigger, stronger and faster. Why is that?
It could very well be a down south thing where basketball isn’t the dominant sport. I don’t know.
SG: Eric Piatkowski/FredHoiberg/Richie Frahm
SF: Mark Hendrickson/
PF: Don Maclean/ Ben Handlogten/ Googs!
C: Kevin Salvadori/Scot Pollard/ Bill Wennington! Slap Yo Selves!
You know about unnecessary exclamation points and unnecessarily capitalized letters, so points for that.
Meanwhile, I’ve met people who work at basketball gyms in your country — literally, their employment involves working at a gym where basketball is played — who have never heard of Kobe or LeBron. So, as far as relative national knowledge of non-primary sports, I win. USA!! USA!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ptqXqjsZw&feature=related
Actually, basketball is one of the easiest sports for lower income individuals to become involved in. Also, there is the idea that if you are poor, you are more likely to devote large amounts of time to becoming good at sports because you are more likely to see it as a way to improve your living conditions. Conversely, if you have money and live a solid middle or working class life, you might view education as a more viable way to improve your life.
It could be that black athletes are steered towards running back while white athletes are steered toward quarterback. For example, the position of center on the offensive line is very much dependent on speed and agility, but it is more often staffed by white players. Mainly this is because of a stereotype that center is for “smart” players, which means it’s better suited to white kids.
I think it’s just as likely that stereotypes about who should play which position lead to kids limiting their choices.
Finally, most people here hvae played pickup basketball. I’m wondering how many of the black people have AUTOMATICALLY assumed a white dude could shoot as soon as you see them on the court?
Your thesis is funny. You assume that because there are more black people in the NBA or playing basketball, then black people must be genetically suited to basketball.
Do you also assume that because white people are more likely to work in professional jobs than black people, white people must be genetically suited to those jobs?
How about standardized testing?
The simple fact is that these issues rarely have one simple answer and assuming they do is silly. Besides, I have already recommneded a book, Darwin’s Athletes, that discusses the fallacy of genetic based stereotypes.
Exactly. We all make assumptions based on race, and we often let those assumption dictate our actions.
I don’t know why people think sports are any different.
AllenP, your point is well taken. Activity + Participants = Social class. In broad terms off-course but nevertheless accurate.
Perfect example with soccer.
All you need is a ball. If soccer hadn’t got stigmatized in the US early on, I think far more black kids would play it here.
Totally agree.
Rasho
Foster
Murphy
Dunleavy
Diener
So what if they would go 0-82? Can Utah top that?
game of choice for breaking one’s ankles.
All that stuff is well documented. Doesn’t dictate however whether someone is better at a game of whatever that somebody else.
I think the points made here are about who ultimately practices or participates in these games the most. This is what dictates the domination and success, in anything btw.
than somebody else
The book I keep referencing challenges the assumption that fast twitch muscles are the main determinant of athletic qualities and presents some compelling examples that show why that’s the case. I would recommend you check it out, just to get a different viewpoint.
Once again, it’s called “Darwin’s Athletes.”
That was a good point you made about relocating urban families.
It’s not that white kids CAN’T play basketball. It’s that society has told them that’s not THEIR sport and that it’s futile in some ways for them to compete against black kids in the long term.
These are huge generalizations, but I know that some of y’all have noticed it. I don’t think the dearth of white athletes is tied to genetics. Considering the fact that there are fare more white people in the country than any other race, it seems likely that there are far more white people with the athletic skills needed to be basketball players. They choose other sports.
The numbers say a lot of things about people. People ignore the numbers until they line up with what they want to believe.
You know why black dudes dominate in tracks? because they practice it! the best 110m hurdler is chinese, the best woman sprinter was greek. how come no one has a problem with volleyball players from holland, greece or china having 40-inch verts but point out that white basketball players can’t jump? fast-twitch muscles are DEVELOPED by training.
How come Kenyans dominate long distance running then? They have less fast-twitch muscles? Or is it because they train for it since the womb basically?
Soccer is as demanding athletically as basketball. However, Blacks do not dominate. Because whites and latinos play it. Every Black kid in the States tries his hand at basketball at some point in his childhood. That’s why they’re great at that sport. No more, no less.
This is the same reasoning that’s preventing white kids from being HBs and WRs in football. A guy like Tebow would be a great wideout, he just chose to play QB.
Here’s the squad…. PG Kirk Hinrich
SG Mike Miller
SF Mike Dunleavy
PF Kevin Love
C Brad Miller
Bench
Ridnour,Redick,Szczerbiak,Kaman,Birdman,Pryzbilla
Aren’t these all sports that require explosive athletic ability and are dominated by white people?
This thread is now closed.
Oh, and f*ck Liverpool.
SG-West
SF- Bird
PF- Mikan
C- Walton Vs PG – Johnson
SG – Jordan
SF – James
PF – Wilt
C - Shaq
SG-brent barry
sf-mike dunleavy
pf-brian scalabrine
c-joel pryzbilla
The Nba wants to limit the amount of white players in the league, maybe because people don’t want to watch teams full of comparatively unathletic white guys. For as long as I can remember the NBA has been around 80% black. In the 80s and early 90s most of the white players were American. Since then a load of foreign white players have come in, but instead of add to the % of white guys, it’s stayed exactly the same. It almost as if the league reserves a certain amount of spots for white guys. I don’t think that there’s a smaller amount of talented white Americans now than there were 20 years ago, but because David Stern wants to popularise the NBA with every country on the planet, the foreign players are pushing them out. Just my theory.
players KNEW IT WAS REAL, BUT UNSPOKEN. JOHN THOMPSON talked about it not long ago on TNT. Now what’s going on today is totally different, if a WHITE player is any good, He is worth BIG MONEY!!!! Just take what Chris Paul is doing, the triple doubles this year and last year he had his team 1 or two games behind the lakers. He had better numbers than GOLDEN BOY STEVE NASH had in BOTH of his MVP YEARS. LOOK AT THE HORNETS WITHOUT PAUL NOW! I DON’T THINK I’VE HEARD SPORTSCENTER TALK ABOUT THIS AT ALL. BUT THAT’S ALL THEY TALKED ABOUT WHEN NASH WAS HURT. I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THIS NONSENSE, WHEN HAS ANY 2 TIME MVP’S BEEN SUCH A WEAK DEFENDER AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF…NEVER WON A RING, BUT YET WIN 2 MVP AWARDS!!!! AND I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND EVERYONE THIS….THE WHITE OWNERS HAVE TALKED AND STILL DISCUSS THIS TOPIC….THEY TRY TO LOOK OUT FOR THE WHITE PLAYER, I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO THINK ABOUT WHY WOULD THE NBA CHANGE THE NO ZONE IN THE PRO GAME!!!!!!! BACK IN THE DAY IF THE ZONE WAS AROUND STEVE KERR WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ALL-STAR, BUT GUARDS LIKE ZEKE “I. THOMAS”, PAYTON, MAGIC, and on and on.
SO WHAT HAPPENED….THEY CALL IT THE A.I. RULE, BUT IT REALLY WAS A WAY OF ENSURING THAT THE SLOW WHITE PLAYER IN COLLEGE HAD A CHANCE OF MAKING A NBA TEAM, AND WHEN THERE AREN’T ENOUGH AMERICAN PLAYERS….LET’S GO GET KUKOC AND SABONIS, NOW EUORPE PRODUCED DIRK AND THE RUSH WAS ON, THAT HASN’T WORKED OUT LIKE MANY PEOPLE EXPECTED, YEAH I KNOW GASOL..BUT JUST LOOK AT ALL OF THE RULE CHANGES THAT HAVE COME ABOUT SINCE THE EURO RUSH. THE EURO CAN’T PLAY DEFENSE SO WHAT DOES THE NBA DO…MAKE IT SO YOU CAN BARELY TOUCH A PLAYER!!! NASH WOULD NEVER BEEN MVP IF HE WAS PLAYING IN THE 80′S, HE COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THE PUNISHMENT THAT THE GUARDS TOOK THEN, U COULD NOT DRIVE TO THE “HOLE” LIKE HE “USE” TO DO WITHOUT BEING PUT ON UR BUTT….AFTER BIRD THE LEAGUE WAS “DESPERATE”
TO FIND THE NEXT “GREAT WHITE BIRD” THEY HAD TO WAIT A FEW YEARS FOR NASH AND DIRK, BUT OHHH DID THEY MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME WITH THE 2 MVP’S FOR NASH….AND I THINK THAT JUST LIKE OUR SOCIETY, THERE ARE SPORTS WRITERS THAT VOTE OR DON’T VOTE FOR SOMEONE BASED ON THEIR “SKIN” COLOR. I WAS IN THE NAVY IN THE 80′S AND THE SAYING WAS…WE ALL WEAR BLUE, IN BOOT CAMP THEY TELL U THAT THE NAVY DOESN’T SEE COLOR, BUT THAT WAS NOT TRUE, AND I THINK SPORTSWRITERS ARE NO DIFFERENT. CASE IN POINT TIM TEBOW….NEW GREAT WHITE HOPE!!!!
f bill bradley
pf phil jackson
sg steve kerr
pg cousy and all the white players went to a strip club……. and a special shout out goes to kyle korver/ashton kusher where u at.
but vince carter is
I am Allenp, and I approve this message.
Have you ever heard of Stormfront?
I’d check it out. The NAACP and Rainbow Coalition have had some problems getting it shut down, but maybe you have the secret.
And tha’ts coming from a black person.
pg: Mike Bibby
sg: Kevin Martin
sf: Tayshaun Prince
pf: kenyon Martin
c: Javale McGee
6th man: Delonte West
Mike Bibby, Delonte West, Kevin Martin, Jerryd Bayless, Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Jordan Farmar, Tayshawn Prince, Shane Battier (I have a personal disgust for and who would remove that one drop if he could), etc.
PG: Hinrich, Blake, Ridnour
SG: Miller, Korver
SF: Dunleavy, Walton
PF: Lee, Love, Murphy
C: Kaman, Miller This team would compete in the NBA. They wouldn’t win the championship but they would make it to the playoffs. They would have a good frontcourt.
If the reverse were true the NAACP, Al Sharpton, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson would be up in arms. I beg to differ. White players are the victims of stereotyping, just like black players once were. Give US white players a chance. This is discrimination just as much as blacks were discriminated against in the past. Come on let’s have true equality!!!!!!!!
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