NJNJ Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 At TrueHoop, Henry Abbott wonders why this gun episode has sent the nation feral. Abbott points out how many gun incidents the NBA has faced in the past, from Stephen Jackson to Scottie Pippen to Sebastian Telfair. And, accurately, Abbott notes there are no real victims in this saga: Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton had some sort of argument, supposedly unloaded firearms were or were not drawn, laid on a chair or thrown across a locker room. End of incident. By the letter, this incident really doesn't deserve its heft -- Abbott's point is absolutely correct. But it's easy to see why it has sent the legions of American sports fans and pundits stark raving mad. It fits perfectly into the image problem NBA commissioner David Stern has been trying to fix for decades. The sauciest details of the alleged Arenas-Crittenton spat -- that the Wizards locker room resembled an Old West saloon on December 21 -- broke late Thursday, and I wrote about it here on FanHouse early Friday morning. Guess what I spent half of New Year's Day doing? Deleting ignorant comments made on that post by non-NBA fans. For so long the general population of sports fans has answered that the NBA faces the darkest problems, despite the fact that Major League Baseball continues to grapple with a PED problem and has no smaller count of criminals in its ranks (let me introduce you to the Giles brothers), and that the NFL has a recent history of scandal far more explosive (see: Pacman Jones) and jaw-dropping (Michael Vick) than anything the NBA's seen since the pre-Stern days. Why? Well, as we've re-learned on a near daily basis since June 2008, racism is alive in America. Among the top three American sports leagues, the NBA has the highest percentage of players who are black, 76 percent according to the Racial and Gender Report Card. Sixty-six percent of NFL players are black, and just 8 percent of MLB players are black. CONTINUE READING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erick Blasco Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 (edited) I'm glad Ziller wrote this article. As far as America has come, veiled racism is still abound with the ways many fans view NBA culture. Edited January 5, 2010 by Erick Blasco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AboveLegit Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 It also worsens the whole situation when Gil says it's his fault and that he meant it as a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Situation Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 They are all thugs in the NBA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWaLL Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 You can never tell who the nice guys in the league are anymore. Sad truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bravenewworld Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 This is just our culture now sadly enough. And the bad stuff is not limited to just the NBA. Every sport now you have people with guns, using steroids, having affairs (which i honestly do not think is anyone elses business), ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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