Monday, October 29th, 2012 at 9:50 am  |  86 responses

Civil Rights Activists Question Minnesota Timberwolves’ White Roster


The Minnesota Timberwolves and the skin color of many of their players has some questioning the front-office’s true motives when it comes to constructing the roster. Reports the Star Tribune: “Dante Cunningham noticed when he reported for work in Minnesota this fall that his new Timberwolves team is unlike any for which he has ever played. ‘Day One, we were all in the elevator and I kind of looked up,’ he said about a crowded ride with many of his new teammates, ‘and I was just like, ‘Where is everybody?’ Everybody, in this case, being black teammates. Come opening night on Friday, Cunningham will be one of five black players on a 15-man Wolves team that has reversed the National Basketball Association’s historical racial percentages with a roster that is the league’s whitest since the Boston Celtics teams of the 1980s. [...] ‘How did we get a roster that resembles the 1955 Lakers?’ asked Tyrone Terrell, chairman of St. Paul’s African American leadership council. ‘I think everything is a strategy. Nothing happens by happenstance.’ That strategy, Terrell and others in the black community believe, is to sell tickets to the Wolves’ fan base, which is overwhelmingly white. ‘Patently false,’ said David Kahn, Wolves president of basketball operations. He and other Timberwolves executives instead call it a coincidence of circumstance and a purposeful plan to scour the globe for the best players they can possibly obtain. They will start the season with players from Russia, Montenegro, Spain and Puerto Rico, a total of five international players among a group that also includes five white American-born players. Included is injured All-Star Kevin Love, the game’s greatest American-born white player — a vanishing species in the league — since John Stockton starred for Utah in the 1990s.”

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  • agro you suck

    when were white able to use the white toilet seat?

  • http://twitter.com/rubthemtogether Mind Gangster

    Utterly, utterly moronic

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    What the hell.. Rubio it aint white he’s hispanic lol

  • Mike From Spain

    Look at me. I am from Spain. Would you say I look like a hispanic dude? No real problem with getting called ‘hispanic’, but that is a bit like calling people from Spain ‘latino’. Not all of us look mediterranean / hispanic / latino.

  • Jay

    That is reaching. I can’t believe this is an issue. Minnesota has a diverse roster that features a bunch of ESL (English as second language) guys. They are organizationally average trying to get better, but racist isn’t really an issue IMO. MR. Cunningham had better think again. He’s probably prejudice.

  • Regis

    This is an embarrassing shot to the intelligence of every person in Minnesota. “Everything is strategy”. What a chump.

  • http://twitter.com/anegron7 A1

    This is stupid. its racist to say that there should be a limit to how many white ppl are on a basketball team, its like the beginning days of basketball, but they just switched black hate to white hate. and im puerto rican, i shouldnt be standin up for white ppl (no offense lol) but this is straight ignorant

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    relax, it was a generalization. I’m myself am cuban/israeli. who cares he’s a human being. if it makes you feel better girls from spain are the most beautiful

  • Redd

    ..Bosnia

  • Mike From Spain

    I am fine, I did not take any ‘offense’, I used to get mildly irritated to be classified as South American rather than European, but now I am more used to it.

  • Redd

    I’m all for speaking up when white folks try to oppress or belittle non-whites but in this case..dude lost his head.

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    im thinking the same

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    what would you prefer to be called?

  • Rkirby

    This is the dumbest gripe ever. Like of all basketball time.

  • Mike From Spain

    I don’t know, I’d think broadly speaking European, and the way I think European is not racial, but geographical. Yes, a lot of us happen to be white, but a whole lot of us happen not to be white. In regards to the way I think about my identity, race is very low in the list. I don’t know if this makes any sense to you…

  • Dagger

    Ironically the Timberwolves, like the Raptors, have one of the more diverse rosters in the league, if you look beyond skin colour.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Ridiculous. 8 of their 15 players were Black just last season. If Michael Beasley didn’t play like garbage last season, he would still be there. Owners and GMs want to win. They assemble the best team they can in order to win so that they can make as much money as possible and generate enough interest as possible. Look around the league. Predominantly Black players. Why would one franchise decide to show some prejudice this season while everyone else is only trying to win with the best players they can get? The best White player in the league is their superstar player. Nothing wrong with that at all. Some of today’s civil rights groups are a disgrace compared to how they used to be. Look at their history. Kevin Garnett, who has darker skin than he does? There are real issues out here for these kind of groups to be concerned with. This isn’t one of them. Dante needs to try to get some minutes and worry less about the skin color of the guys he’s playing with.

  • reedo

    lol makes me laugh because Brandon Roy is black. This guy needs to be upset with nba 2k13 all the light skin guys look white lol

  • timbo slice

    why is this an issue? i believe in the right person for the right job, if management believes they have the correct person for what theey are trying to accomplish then what does it matter if they happen to be white black or asian or whatever?
    even if it was a roster fulll of thai lady boys, if they can hoop they can hoop
    the race card has gotta go

  • http://twitter.com/Jzakoni Verified Account

    a lot of sense

  • James aka…

    I wonder if he’s going to retroactively protest the Cwebb Era Kings or some of Dirk’s teams. The argument that Minnesota’s fan base is mostly white is true. the problem is, so is every team in the league. Most Obama voters are white. Nevermind that, most rap albums are bought by suburban white children, because the US has 220 million white people (not including central and south americans with european ancestry). Unless this civil rights activist believes some 27 and 14 all star from the Black community was unfairly denied a job in favour of Kevin Love, the question must be asked: What are you wasting your time as a civil rights leader doing?

  • bike

    This Tyrone Terrell is the kind of guy that really gives civil rights groups a bad name.

  • Canesta

    Reverse racism at it’s finest. It’s funny because if a non-African-American made a comment like this regarding the overwhelming number of African-Americans in the league, it would be all over the news as a “racist” comment. Yet turn it the other way around and it’s fine…

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    The real problem is not at the level of team rosters, but of team ownership. Actually, ownership in general, not just in the NBA. That’s what these civil rights leaders need to be questioning.

  • http://www.facebook.com/garyfrclev Gary Kelly

    why is everything racially motivated i mean hello rubio is spainish it makes no sense

  • bballnut

    This just proves what i always believed..blacks dont want to be treated equal..they want to be treated better than everyone else..sorry beasley sucked and sorry randolph was an idiot..notice they also got rid of worthless white center darko.

  • Solito

    Does Donte Cunningham think “they all look alike”, then? Rubio, Shved/Kirilenko and Pekovic… if he thinks Spaniards, Russians and Serbs are all the same, then he was not going to history class often. Touchy subject, not only in the US, but in Serbia as well, btw.

  • The Mauve Avenger

    What about the rest of the league’s black rosters?

  • Bob fan

    Most of the nba players are black. I am white so why don’t I call for racial quotas? It is obvious each team assembles a roster that they think can help them win games, even if this means that most of the players are black. If you win games, the fans will support you no matter what the color of the skin.

  • phil

    Blacks associate basketball to their manhood more than any other sport, they are threatened when a situation that is not the norm appears. Jeremy lin’s emergence set the stage of hate from a guy that complimented everyone and was a church goer. Minnesota god forbid is starting a mainly white team(they must be racist evil goers). Their sense of worth is relied to often to this subject.

  • steven

    Well white guys get replaced all the time. Look at all those big breasted women doing news. You still looking.

  • shutup

    LMAO

  • http://www.facebook.com/BoppinBob47 Bob Edwards

    Tyrone Terrel is a racist, and writing an article that even mentions his musings is giving him credence and in my humble opinion is also racist.

  • shutup

    Yeah, that wasn’t a racist comment…..lmao. your a joke, go hang your hood up.

  • Clo

    Fuckin dumbass activist… Whites are the minority and their is someone complaining there is too many white people.. Get f outta here

  • yann blavec

    It’s stupid to say athletes should be black. Doctors, lawyers, teachers should be black;

  • blackthought

    dante cunningham – thats a boatload of bullshit, so thick the ship maid sink – no gm cares about black or white – they want just to win (or make some money along the way..) !

  • Do Work

    This is absolutely ridiculous…every other team has majority of black players but if someone complained about that being unfair they are automatically labeled a racist.

  • Filmexec

    PC BS from the Poverty Pimps!

  • sheed33

    true

  • Yup

    What do you mean by reverse racism? Racism is racism, no matter what race is being effected.

  • jay

    I think its racist to even bring this up, like only bblack people can play basketball?

  • Luther Clark

    I don t see anything wrong with Wolves & Raptors be n more diverse . Maybe the reason is because more white ppl come to the area & they want good basketball players that can play & look like the pay n customers. They weren t winning with the team being mustly Afro American…

  • http://twitter.com/DanielOwarMN Daniel Owar

    So, it’s okay for a team to be filled with African-Americans players, but when a team is filled with Caucasian players is wrong?………..I don’t get this sh*t.

  • http://twitter.com/_DFrance DFrance

    Man you are all over the place with your comments.

  • Lalaker12

    What a ridiculous and idiotic notion. Fight actual battles and greivances and not look for ones that aren’t there. It weakens your arguement and credibility when there actually is a reason for concern.

  • Jimmy

    How come its ok for teams to be all black? But if they’re all white its racist.

    Watch these whiteboys make the playoffs this year, they’re gonna be good

  • Simmo

    Absolutely correct.. I find his comments offensive and he should be condemned by the black community.. But, that’ll never happen – they’ll spin it another way

  • Ron

    This idiots statements are so untrue, they don’t merit a comment on real racial issues.

  • http://profiles.google.com/ahb9days rob thomas

    MN is the poor neighborhood in NBA, they can only afford the white guys.

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