<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BronxTeeRex:</div><div class="quote_post">First of all basketball is a black sport and that follows black stars of course. The only white stars in this leuge, that i can think about is:The whole kings and spurs team! no just kidding. It is Bibby, Stojakovich, DIRK, Nash, Ming.....and maybe J-will and brad miller to.</div> They weren't talking about just any white guys, I believe they were specifically targeting American white guys. I don't believe there were any impact white foreigners when Bird was playing, so he was alluding to Americans. In essence he is right, it would be somewhat of a boost if there was another great white American player because a majority of the casual fans were are also a big bulk of the NBA's marketing base are American white people and this would give them someone to relate to on a bigger scale. Did anyone see PTI today? They named J. Will as the best American white player today. Heh. Also, I believe Bibby is black, but I don't think anyone knows for sure.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sunsfan1357:</div><div class="quote_post">Also, I believe Bibby is black, but I don't think anyone knows for sure.</div> Bibby's father is black and his mother is white.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">Bibby's father is black and his mother is white.</div> ACtually, his mother is black too...I think Henry might be mixed, so that would make Mike 1/4 if that were true.
it really doesnt matter if your white or black, its just a game and you cant force more white players to play in the nba.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting intrepid1983:</div><div class="quote_post">How is that stereotypical? I'm from Canada (pure hockey knowledge), and I came from Jamaica (went to an all black school, never saw a caucasian till i hit 14 and came up to canada). I was actually giving a reasonable explanation for it. Pretty reasonable actually. Mine pretty much says all races are the same, but what they focus on makes them better at what they do with it. THat is in no way racist in comment. And it is out of being and pure observation. Im talking about majority of ppl here. Not saying all, Ensign Carter is a fine black hockey player winning gold for Canada, but majority of black ppl would prefer basketball over hockey any day. Do caucasians like rock music more? Or do black ppl? If you answer caucasians then u are racist then, based on what u said about my comments. Like i said, if you focus on something, you will be better at it than others. black ppl focus on bball because they like that sport, so they will be better at it, IF i said their bodies were made to be better than caucasians at bball then that would be a racist comment. Caucasians like more variety of things than black ppl (definitely a tru statement) BUt no, i said they enjoy it more, so they try to play it more often and improve at it obviously, really think about it before calling it racist. No shots to you, im jus tryin to have you see it in my view. Any race which focuses on certain aspects will get better at it, and if they like doing things more, are they racist for stating it? DO chinese ppl like playing raquet sports? like table tennis? If you can answer a yes or a no, then you are racist (based on what you were saying of my comments).</div> Just like Bird, you are entitled to your opinion. My only question to you is what are you focused on? I'm guessing it wasn't your English classes.
the only thing that strikes me as odd is that under no circumstances do I think of the Euros as white. It doesn't seem like anyone else does either.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">Just like Bird, you are entitled to your opinion. My only question to you is what are you focused on? I'm guessing it wasn't your English classes.</div> What has english classes got to do with this topic? I convey my ideas and you agree, disagree, or give your own opinion. Don't attack my literacy, which has nothing to do with the topic. Yes I could write in essay format if necessary, but that is a total waste of time. I have noticed how you are attacking me, while i've been leaving conversations open-ended without any ill-will to you, other than talking about the actual issue of the topic. But if you want to go through that route that's fine, so why dont you show me your credentials in the english language? Since it is clear your topic isn't related to basketball. Which in essence would defeat the purpose of posting on this site in the first place. And besides what should it matter? Americans have deviated from the british english language system since 10 years ago, the standard english model has been corrupted by american "laziness" of using inconsistent english language models (ie "night" has become "nite"). Trust me bud, I dont have to prove anything to you, especially about the english language. I cant believe you even said something like considering the amount of terrible grammatical errors posted upon this site by numerous other members. I am not the first, nor will I be the last, so what should it matter if I post my "bad" english compared to other people doing the same thing on this site? Notice I am reasoning this out rather than attacking you directly. I hope you don't sprout off some other "one sentence" comment that attacks me directly again. I have not called you any names so far, or said anything negative about you, which is easy to do running on purely blind emotions, and I am sure if I had told you what you had said to me, you would probably be saying many irrational things right now about me. Give your thoughts on the issue, not me, as I haven't said anything about you so far.
If you want to know my feelings about Bird's statements read #36 and/or #48 in this thread. As far as me attacking you personally, I'm not going to do that. I don't know anything about you other than the fact that I thought your earlier post made too many wrong generalizations. Obviously you are feeling a certain way about the comments you made (and the errors you made writing them) and that is why you felt the need to write as much as you have in response to what I had written to you earlier. If you want to attack me, that's fine too. This is a forum so I'm not going to take anything written on here personally. Just know that if you write some ignorant statements expect to get back less than flattering responses.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting intrepid1983:</div><div class="quote_post">How is that stereotypical? I'm from Canada (pure hockey knowledge), and I came from Jamaica (went to an all black school, never saw a caucasian till i hit 14 and came up to canada). I was actually giving a reasonable explanation for it. Pretty reasonable actually. Mine pretty much says all races are the same, but what they focus on makes them better at what they do with it. THat is in no way racist in comment. And it is out of being and pure observation. Im talking about majority of ppl here. Not saying all, Ensign Carter is a fine black hockey player winning gold for Canada, but majority of black ppl would prefer basketball over hockey any day. Do caucasians like rock music more? Or do black ppl? If you answer caucasians then u are racist then, based on what u said about my comments. Like i said, if you focus on something, you will be better at it than others. black ppl focus on bball because they like that sport, so they will be better at it, IF i said their bodies were made to be better than caucasians at bball then that would be a racist comment. Caucasians like more variety of things than black ppl (definitely a tru statement) BUt no, i said they enjoy it more, so they try to play it more often and improve at it obviously, really think about it before calling it racist. No shots to you, im jus tryin to have you see it in my view. Any race which focuses on certain aspects will get better at it, and if they like doing things more, are they racist for stating it? DO chinese ppl like playing raquet sports? like table tennis? If you can answer a yes or a no, then you are racist (based on what you were saying of my comments).</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quoting intrepid1983:</div><div class="quote_post">If white ppl only luv'd basketball and practiced it day and night, they would be just as good as black ppl. But most white ppl focus on school and other things thinking they wont become a famous NBA player, thats why</div> This is where your statements can be construed as racists. With this statement, you are implying that blacks "only love basketball and practice it day and night," that's why they are good...in addition, you are implying that blacks don't focus on school...sorry dude, but those are some ignorant ass statements, and I'm pretty sure that was what Iron Shrek was referring to.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">Odom is actually 6'10", lol.</div> Yea but I've heard rumours of him being taller than he's listed, don't know if it's true but I've heard.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">I respect Bird even more for speaking his mind like he did and not trying to sugar coat the issue attempting to be politically correct like everyone else. Nothing that Larry said was wrong, and frankly what Larry said about trying to get more white superstars in the NBA is NO DIFFERENT AT ALL than NASCAR and Magic Johnson trying to get more black drivers and attract more black fans. NASCAR and Magic Johnson can talk all they want about trying to attract more black drivers and fans, but as soon as Larry Bird talks about wanting to attract more white fans he is labeled a racist? That's a load of BS and just another example of the huge double standard in this country.</div> u respect bird for speaking his mind, thats sort of like saying u admire a mentally challenged person speaking his mind. bird was an exceptional player but a lifelong moron, those very public words of his just exemplifies his ignoramus. nascar hired magic so they can remove "the good ol' boys label" u know the redneck stigma. It was a political move more than anything, plus magic is another moran. i know some of u detest merit cause it eviscerates your privilege acquired through a history of pillaging but anyways sports is the greatest meritocracy. legit fans not the peripheral fan wants to see the best players in the world not scrubs. remember hockey is a white dominated sport yet its designated as a fringe sport relegated to the back pages of the sports section.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting deception:</div><div class="quote_post"> i know some of u detest merit cause it eviscerates your privilege acquired through a history of pillaging but anyways sports is the greatest meritocracy. legit fans not the peripheral fan wants to see the best players in the world not scrubs. remember hockey is a white dominated sport yet its designated as a fringe sport relegated to the back pages of the sports section.</div> You probably made some great points here, but I can barely understand a word you are talking about. (I'm guessing that you prefer an educated audience)
<font color="Red">This is a touchy topic and there are going to be strong opinions from both sides of Bird's statements. I just wanted to remind everyone to keep a level head and refrain from getting heated and making personal attacks. We can all discuss this maturely.</font> I have not seen the actual ESPN show which aired these comments by Bird and Magic. I know the dialogue came out before the actual show, so I was wondering if this was merely taken out of context. Was Bird jokingly saying this to the interviewer, or does he really believe the NBA needs a white star? My two cents, I watch the game and cheer for the talent on the court, I could care less what race they are. Last time I checked the NBA is more popular than ever. When Kobe Bryant makes a game winner I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, if Kobe was white would I cheer louder? Nope.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post"><font color="Red">This is a touchy topic and there are going to be strong opinions from both sides of Bird's statements. I just wanted to remind everyone to keep a level head and refrain from getting heated and making personal attacks. We can all discuss this maturely.</font> I have not seen the actual ESPN show which aired these comments by Bird and Magic. I know the dialogue came out before the actual show, so I was wondering if this was merely taken out of context. Was Bird jokingly saying this to the interviewer, or does he really believe the NBA needs a white star? My two cents, I watch the game and cheer for the talent on the court, I could care less what race they are. Last time I checked the NBA is more popular than ever. When Kobe Bryant makes a game winner I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, if Kobe was white would I cheer louder? Nope.</div> The interviewer directly asked Bird "Do you think the NBA needs more white stars in the league?" and Bird replied giving him a straight up honest answer. Nothing was taken out of context, however most people are just assuming he suddenly brought this up out of nowhere when in actuality nobody ever said anything about the issue until the interviewer directly asked Larry the question out of the blue. It was a controversial question and it was answered with a controversial answer. If Yao Ming came out in the press and said that the NBA needs more Chinese stars in the league, nobody would say anything or turn it into a race issue, and frankly this same double standard applies to pretty much every other race imagineable. It's all fine and dandy but when someone brings up the issue that there should be more white stars, they're labled a racist which is simply absurd. I'm white and I really don't see any need to relate to a white superstar. I'm a big Marlins fan and there's a lot of white guys on the Marlins, however my favorite player is Juan Pierre who is black, so it's really not a big deal to me what color an athlete is, if they play for my favorite team and contribute to the team it doesn't matter what color you are. Any player that is even able to make it into the NBA, even if they're just a bench warmer, still had to of been absolutely dominant in high school and/or college to even have a shot at making an NBA roster. Take the Yankees for example, they opened up the season over in Japan for one reason and one reason only: Hideki Matsui. He's a national hero in Japan and hundreds of millions of people want to see him. The Yankees would not have opened up the season in Japan if they did not have Hideki Matsui. This very same reason is why the Houston Rockets have played pre-season games in China: Yao Ming. If they did not have Yao Ming they would not have gone to China. Other nationalities and races need to have these players like Yao Ming, Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, etc. however in these cases I feel it's more a sense of national pride than a racial issue.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting notMuchgame:</div><div class="quote_post">This is where your statements can be construed as racists. With this statement, you are implying that blacks "only love basketball and practice it day and night," that's why they are good...in addition, you are implying that blacks don't focus on school...sorry dude, but those are some ignorant ass statements, and I'm pretty sure that was what Iron Shrek was referring to.</div> Yes, now that is constructive what you are saying. But attacking on my command of the english language is what gets me. That was besides the point. My first section does seem ignorant when I look back at it now, which I conveyed in the wrong way, but non of my black friends ever went crazy over any other sport besides basketball. And yes they do study in school. I was being a bit exaggerated, my bad
You know what I think lately. No offense intended. I repeat no offense intended. People of such as anglo-saxonian heritage (I think most of the white America are such) are physically inferior to start with on the genetic level than other people. That's why most of the white stars are foreign. I know it's stupid, but i didn't eat yet so i have excuse to say that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UrbanLegend:</div><div class="quote_post">You know what I think lately. No offense intended. I repeat no offense intended. People of such as anglo-saxonian heritage (I think most of the white America are such) are physically inferior to start with on the genetic level than other people. That's why most of the white stars are foreign. I know it's stupid, but i didn't eat yet so i have excuse to say that.</div> The saying "white men can't jump" isn't just a myth, it's a medical and physiological fact, lol. The genetic makeup of black people causes them to generally have longer achilles tendons than that of any other race and the thickness and makeup of muscle fibers in black people are also slightly different than any other race which which enables them to jump higher, run faster, and just generally be all around more athletic than other races. Now don't get me wrong, of course there will be exceptions in every case, but this reigns true for most athletes and what I stated above is documented medical fact, I studied it in my college anatomy class last semester. The best athletes in the world, regardless of sport, are almost always going to be black. It doesn't matter if it's track and field, baseball, basketball, football, marathon running, soccer, and even hockey... yes that's right I said hockey! Jarome Iginla is the best hockey player in the NHL and the entire world right now and he's black. And I must emphasize, nothing I said above was intended to be racist, prejudice, or anything along those lines and I hope nobody interprets what I said as negative, because it's not. This is a mature adult discussion and I expect people will receive what I have said in a mature way and not start talking about racism and political correctness.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">The interviewer directly asked Bird "Do you think the NBA needs more white stars in the league?" and Bird replied giving him a straight up honest answer. Nothing was taken out of context, however most people are just assuming he suddenly brought this up out of nowhere when in actuality nobody ever said anything about the issue until the interviewer directly asked Larry the question out of the blue. It was a controversial question and it was answered with a controversial answer. </div> I originally thought that Bird was prompted by Jim Gray to say what he said but then after actually watching the group interview I saw that Bird actually initiated the racial discussion by saying how annoyed he'd get when white people used to guard him. He was then asked afterwards about his feelings about whether or not the league need more white stars. This doesn't make Bird any less wrong or right for saying what he said. Like I said in an earlier post, he is entitled to his opinion. I was originally misinformed on how the racial topic was initiated. It was by Bird, not Jim Gray.
Basketball is a black man's game, generally speaking, while hockey is generally a white man's game. But what's there to complain about? I believe the NBA currently has more white stars than ever. I don't think there is one white player that has a superstar caliber like Kidd, but all that matters if how determined these players are to reach that level. It's not a sports stimulation where they automatically improve every year and automatically become a superstar. They have to work for it.
