Indiana. In 49 states, it’s just basketball….this is Indiana. But it’s more than basketball — it’s a certain brand of basketball.
Hoosiers. The 1954 Milan Indians, the real-life Hoosiers. Jimmy Chitwood. Bobby Plump, the real-life Jimmy Chitwood. Crewcuts. John Wooden. Fieldhouses. Larry Bird from French Lick. Shooting on makeshift baskets right next to the cornrows. The Indiana Hoosiers. Bobby Knight. Steve Alford. Damon Bailey. Basic below-the-rim basketball.
Notice a common trend? Everything on that list is whiter than Coach Knight’s locks.
Oscar Robertson. Isiah Thomas. Reggie Miller. Calbert Cheaney. Danny Granger.
Is it just me, or is that list very Barck Obamaesque — just “white” enough.
Considering both the history of its basketball and its demographics. you can imagine how Indiana reacted when the Indiana Pacers suddenly morphed into the Portland Jailblazers. Reggie Miller retired and it went from “boom, baby” to “boom, byotch.” Neither the situation nor the reaction was pretty.
Ron Artest was rapping, domestic abusing and charging into the stands.
Steven Jackson was swinging at fans like he was Albert Pujols and they were fastballs. Either that or playing Omar from The Wire at local strip clubs.
Jamaal Tinsley was stealing millions sitting on the bench injured, sick and grumpy. Hey, those bar fights will take a toll on you.
Marquis Daniels was Tinsley’s wingman. Yes, the guy with the tat of a kid blowing his head off with a shotgun on his forearm.
Shawne “Murder Was the Case That They Gave My Friend” Williams was racking up both police “situations” and DNPs.
Now, in the state of Indiana’s defense, basketball has always been as much about how you carry yourself as it has been about winning. Just watch Hoosiers again, reminisce about Larry Legend or read up on what Bobby Knight and John Wooden demanded from the players, and you’ll see exactly what I mean. That being said, only a fool would try to argue that race hasn’t played a big part in this mess.
Ever since things hit rock bottom in Indianapolis — the Jackson strip-club shootout back in 2006 — Pacers President Larry Bird has been working around the clock to change the culture, or “lighten” the atmosphere to put it more bluntly. He’s stated that he doesn’t want “milk drinkers” in the past, but it’s obvious he does want milk complexion. It’s also obvious that the Pacers have cared more about changing the look of the roster than its talent level. Even though a person’s race is of no consequence to me personally, honestly, yes, I have to admit that this is a smart business move. But I also think that Bird has gone way too far with his “whitewashing” of the Pacers.
Check out some of his moves since arriving in Naptown:
Signed Sarunas Jasikevicius as a free agent.
Traded Ron Artest to the Kings for Peja Stojakovic.
Traded Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson and filler to the Warriors for Mike Dunleavy Jr., Troy Murphy and filler.
Exported all black players and imported Josh McRoberts and Rasho Nesterovic as part of two multi-player trades.
Dumped former prize first-round pick Shawne Williams in a trade for basically nothing.
Drafted Tyler Hansbrough way earlier than any sane basketball executive ever would.
Reports have surfaced that he will flat out cut Marquis Daniels, one of the team’s top players.
When the season starts, the Indiana Pacers will likely have seven white players and eight black players. That’s almost 50-50 in an age when the league is predominantly black. Most teams don’t even have three or four white players. The only other team that could possibly even have seven is the Utah Jazz. Yes, the Pacers are out-whiting even the Jazz. Ouch. Next thing you know hip-hop will be banned from games and the players will be wearing Stockton shorts. He’s taken this team from Maybachs to Mayberry.
Not only have a lot of these moves been terrible from a sheer talent perspective, but it’s ridiculously obvious what Bird is doing here. He’s “whitewashing” the Pacers with hopes that the community will once again back the franchise. It’s getting out of hand. I even heard a rumor that Bird has hired the Wayans Brothers’ make-up artist from White Girls to “whitewash” Danny Granger before games. Don’t shoot the messenger — that’s just the rumor I heard.
The Pacers franchise needed to be called out on this. Why? Recently, the NBA has made great progress racially after a period when it took several steps back. People don’t look at the new faces of the game — Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James — as black or white. This was not the case with Allen Iverson, the man who became the post-Jordan face of the NBA. But it was the case with Michael Jordan — he transcended race. Along with people like Bill Cosby, Colin Powell, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jackson (rest in peace), Oprah, Tiger Woods and Will Smith, Jordan paved the way for the first black President. I mean, we just elected a black President, and Bird is busy putting together the honkiest roster since the 1945-46 Rochester Royals.
Bird’s not making progress on the basketball court, and he’s making even less progress socially. It’s a joke. I realize he identifies with a lot of these white players. That’s fine. But there are plenty of classy, hard-working black players out there, too. Look no further than Pacers superstar Danny Granger, one of the league’s best players and role models. T.J. Ford is another fine example right underneath Bird’s nose.
I’m not sure if it’s Bird himself or the Simons from the owner’s box, but the Pacers need to start bringing in players based on capability and character — not color. The Blazers rebuilt their reputation and roster without “whitewashing” it, so it can definitely be done. The Pacers are likely only bringing in the white to bring in more green, but in the process they’re giving themselves a black eye.
(Adam Best is the senior editor of the FanSided.com Sports Network and the twisted mind behind Fan Addict. Follow him on Twitter.)
Seems a little suspect to use Isaiah Thomas to further your argument. Isn’t he the guy who caused the hoo-hah by saying Larry would be “just another player” if he wasn’t white?
What I want to know is why you’d parenthesize “rest in peace” after Michael Jackson’s name and not after Martin Luther King Jr’s.
Fansided: Where we tell MLK to rot in hell
Wow, this is truly a brilliant article. I realize it’s “fansided”, but this is beyond biased. Look, I won’t argue that he is bringing in a higher percentage of white guys. But the conclusion you’re drawing from that is far from clear. I think it has more to do with Bird narrow-mindedly trying to find someone like himself. This really hurt us with Croshere. But to claim he is deliberately ‘white-washing’ the Pacers is just unimaginative and simply racist. Let’s look at some player you conveniently ignored: Brandon Rush, A.J. Price, and Roy Hibbert. And, you simply can’t hold Williams and Daniels against him–they’re both poor characters.
If we ignored Hansbrough’s skin color we’d be left with a guy who was four-time All-ACC, Freshman of the Year, ACC all-time leading scorer, and national champ. He was picked high in likely the worst draft in over a decade.
This is a convenient article to write because it’s so suspicious. I just argue the conclusion isn’t as racist as you claim. The irony is that taking this position is a much more racist than selectively viewing a GM’s personnel decisions.
Editor’s Note: MLK died over 40 years ago. Michael Jackson died four days ago.
Your writing is typical of immature, inexperienced writers. You have some valid points, but you dilute them with a lot of unsupported crap, so the overall effect is lost.
Isiah Thomas and Oscar Robertson, two of the all-time greatest players in college and NBA history, were “just white enough?” Silly argument; these are legends.
Dumping a troublemaker like Shawne Williams, a disappointment on and off the court, is called cutting your losses.
Hansbrough was projected by most draft experts to go right about where he did.
I do agree the Pacers have a problem with both their teams lack of athleticism as well as the perception of racism. A good writer could have made the point so much better.
Ridiculous.
First off, Donnie Walsh had a say (probably the final say) in the moves that brought in Murphy, Dunleavy, Stojakovic, Sarunas and Diener, yet for some reason you only seem to be accusing Bird. LB brought in Mcroberts (the only filler that could have allowed the Bayless- Rush trade to go through), Nesterovic (a valuable 8 million dollar expiring contract)and yeah he drafted Hansbrough, an accomplished senior just like Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush the year before. His range, since you’re obviously an ill-informed hater, was 11-16 and it’s pretty much a given that he wouldn’t have slipped past Chicago.
Just a ridiculous article.
Traded for Brandon Rush
Drafted Roy Hibbert
Traded for TJ Ford
Traded for Jarrett Jack
There’s no “cutting” of Marquis Daniels. His contract is up, just like Nesterovic’s.
“I mean, we just elected a black President, and Bird is busy putting together the honkiest roster since the 1945-46 Rochester Royals.”
Your words. Racist piece of shit. What do you or any of you have against a white man playing a black man’s game? Is it upsetting you that Larry Bird was better than you at it? This was a great article until you used the racial slur. You sir are an offensive hack of a writer. I should print this article and wipe my ass with it, if it wouldnt be such a waste of good paper.
Editor’s Note: The author of this post is white. The use of the term “honky” — a laughable term that offends pretty much nobody — was a joke, not a racial slur.
Wow. If Adam was honest his contention would be less than compelling. You want to be considerd more than some dope in a bar flapping his gums, act like you’re more than some dope in a bar flapping his gums.
You had a conclusion and created a halfass argument to support it.
I’ll say one thing — Tell Oscar Robertson, who grew up in the 50’s in a state that used to be run by the KKK, that he’s “just white enough”. Tell him to his face.
Idiot
This might be one of the worst articles I’ve ever read.
And since when is a racial slur considered “fun”?
Some interesting points. To everyone: the situation in Utah (white players) has been noticed by a lot of people for many years – I mean look how hard they went after Korver. Is Indy going that direction, or is it just coincidence? Only time will tell.
Learn yourself some Oscar Robertson.
This is the saddest article i have ever read
Is every other team in the NBA too Black?
Very insightful article……he should have mentioned the fact that when Larry Bird came to the pacers, one of the first things he did was get rid of isiah thomas the coach. Remember in the 80s, when both were players, and Isiah said in the locker room after a game that if ”Larry Bird were Black, he would just be ‘another good guy”. I think larry got him back on that one. Don Nelson did this alot too, who have also been talked about having a lot of white players, with the mavs. We got Dirk, Nash, Raef Lafrentz, Rigodeau, so its always been hit or miss, like any other player regarding race…
You contradict yourself multiple times in this article.
For one you criticize Daniels and Williams for there immature behavior, then you blame the pacers for giving them away for nothing. Were you expecting us to trade them for Lebron James? There is no value to a player when other teams know you do not want them.
Look at Jamaal Tinsley, he is a good player who could play for most NBA teams, but no one is willing to give up anything for him because they know the value he serves to the Pacers, which is nothing.
You are turning a blind eye to talent and just looking at race.
You claim racism but you are being outwardly racist.
White people can’t play in the NBA? That is the same as saying black players can’t play in the NBA.
Would you call Steve Nash a bad NBA player? How about Dirk? How about a run of the mill player like Steve Blake or Kirk Heinrich? You talking about solid NBA players.
Get off your highhorse and learn something about talent before you spout your mouth off about a team. Danny Granger is an African American. D0o not bad mouth him by saying he is “just white enough.”
When Tyler Hansburough becomes a starting NBA center I will personally repost on here and tell you that you have no talent as a writer or observer
I’m glad the Pacers keep trading for white players. All that does is guarantee they’ll never make the playoffs. Dunleavy and Murphy wouldn’t even be in basketball if they weren’t white… They suck!!