There is a professional basketball league - we are all aware of it - that practices blatant and absolute discrimination on the basis of sex. It's the WNBA. Men are not allowed to play, and at least until yesterday, even "trans-women" were excluded. And yet there is no public outcry or legal challenge to this technically-illegal sex discrimination. Hmm.
I watched [parts of] an NBA game on Friday night between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers. It was so un-entertaining that the 10-12 people watching should have been paid to watch. It was that bad. The terribly-estimable owner of the Mavs, Mark Cuban, has attempted to put together a team that is centered around a couple of white guys - foreign white guys, sorry to say - and when the latest acquisition, Kris Porzingis, is healthy they can be an entertaining lot, but without both him and Doncic they are pathetic. They just throw up as many bombs as they can and hope that 60% of them fall in. But the other "basketball" parts of their game are sorely lacking - stuff like rebounding, playing defense and the other boring stuff. In this game, the Lakers scored 35 times on follow-ups (ORB's), to ZERO for the Mavs. A new NBA record. It was dreadful.
For two very obvious and measurable reasons, the best white players in the country (world) cannot compete against the best Black players. Those two reasons are quickness (hand and feet) and jumping ability. As in all things, the quickest white guys are as quick as second tier Black guys, but at the top levels, the white guys simply cannot compete. Over the past couple generations, the best white guys in the NBA have succeeded IN SPITE OF the fact that they are slower and more gravity-impaired than their Black opponents.
And yet there is an ARMY of excellent white basketball players in the U.S. White kids love the sport just as much as Black kids growing up. They play just as hard, practice just as hard, condition themselves just as aggressively, develop their shooting and passing skills, and so on. But the relative lack of quickness and jumping ability renders the best of them no better than backup players in the NBA, or looking around the world to play in another professional league where there are not as many Black players in the mix.
A prototype American white player is T.J. McConnell, who now plays for the Indiana Pacers. And he is an illustration of the fans' figurative "hunger" to see white American players on the court. He recently signed a three year contract for 3.5 Mil. He is an excellent shooter and ball handler, and "basketball smart." The fans love him. He got this King's Ransom to compensate him for playing about 15 minutes a game, when the Employer knows that he will never average scoring in double digits, he will get only 5 or 6 assists a game, and an equal number of turnovers and rebounds. The only reason he is even in the league is because he is a passable white player. He is worth $10 million over three years to the team because the white people in the stands like seeing him out there. Not because of his value as a basketball player.
Closing my circle now, the ONLY reason why the blatant sex discrimination of the WNBA is tolerated is because women obviously cannot compete against men in basketball, while many fans (well...not that many) want to see women play. But the same thing is true of white male players. They cannot compete on even terms with Black players, and the fans want to see them play. I submit that if a group of crafty entrepreneurs announced that they were going to form a professional basketball league exclusively for white American players, it would succeed, and it just might pass muster legally. White players would still be able to try out for, and play in the NBA; this would just be an alternative venue for those who either can't, or don't want to go that route.
And they could play by "new" rules, to make it more interesting:
Within five years, the NBA would shrivel up like a slug on a block of salt. And it would serve them right.
I watched [parts of] an NBA game on Friday night between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers. It was so un-entertaining that the 10-12 people watching should have been paid to watch. It was that bad. The terribly-estimable owner of the Mavs, Mark Cuban, has attempted to put together a team that is centered around a couple of white guys - foreign white guys, sorry to say - and when the latest acquisition, Kris Porzingis, is healthy they can be an entertaining lot, but without both him and Doncic they are pathetic. They just throw up as many bombs as they can and hope that 60% of them fall in. But the other "basketball" parts of their game are sorely lacking - stuff like rebounding, playing defense and the other boring stuff. In this game, the Lakers scored 35 times on follow-ups (ORB's), to ZERO for the Mavs. A new NBA record. It was dreadful.
For two very obvious and measurable reasons, the best white players in the country (world) cannot compete against the best Black players. Those two reasons are quickness (hand and feet) and jumping ability. As in all things, the quickest white guys are as quick as second tier Black guys, but at the top levels, the white guys simply cannot compete. Over the past couple generations, the best white guys in the NBA have succeeded IN SPITE OF the fact that they are slower and more gravity-impaired than their Black opponents.
And yet there is an ARMY of excellent white basketball players in the U.S. White kids love the sport just as much as Black kids growing up. They play just as hard, practice just as hard, condition themselves just as aggressively, develop their shooting and passing skills, and so on. But the relative lack of quickness and jumping ability renders the best of them no better than backup players in the NBA, or looking around the world to play in another professional league where there are not as many Black players in the mix.
A prototype American white player is T.J. McConnell, who now plays for the Indiana Pacers. And he is an illustration of the fans' figurative "hunger" to see white American players on the court. He recently signed a three year contract for 3.5 Mil. He is an excellent shooter and ball handler, and "basketball smart." The fans love him. He got this King's Ransom to compensate him for playing about 15 minutes a game, when the Employer knows that he will never average scoring in double digits, he will get only 5 or 6 assists a game, and an equal number of turnovers and rebounds. The only reason he is even in the league is because he is a passable white player. He is worth $10 million over three years to the team because the white people in the stands like seeing him out there. Not because of his value as a basketball player.
Closing my circle now, the ONLY reason why the blatant sex discrimination of the WNBA is tolerated is because women obviously cannot compete against men in basketball, while many fans (well...not that many) want to see women play. But the same thing is true of white male players. They cannot compete on even terms with Black players, and the fans want to see them play. I submit that if a group of crafty entrepreneurs announced that they were going to form a professional basketball league exclusively for white American players, it would succeed, and it just might pass muster legally. White players would still be able to try out for, and play in the NBA; this would just be an alternative venue for those who either can't, or don't want to go that route.
And they could play by "new" rules, to make it more interesting:
- When a defensive player assaults a player with the ball, it would be called a "foul,"
- They could re-institute the infraction of "palming" the ball,
- They could have jump balls when players on both teams are fighting over the ball,
- They could have rule that players around the foul circle can't go into the lane until a foul shot touches the rim,
- They could limit the number of steps preceding a dunk to TWO (2) - not six, as is the current NBA rule,
- They could prohibit "Social Justice" demonstrations while in uniform.
Within five years, the NBA would shrivel up like a slug on a block of salt. And it would serve them right.
