I enjoyed watching Pritchard last night, and I'm hopeful that he will be able to contribute this year.
However, and I say this out of general curiosity and it is not meant at all as an attack on any particular poster; I'm wondering how much of the hype that is taking place in this thread (and on different social media outlets) is because Pritchard is white. There is a lot to like about Pritchard for sure; he has clearly worked really hard to get a crack at the NBA and he seems like a nice kid; but why is there so much chatter about him, while Nesmith, who I also thought had a pretty strong debut, doesn't seem to be getting nearly as much hype.
At the same time, Jeff Teague had a very nice game last night for the Celtics, but basically got shit on in the game thread. I get it; Teague is a known quantity and it is fun to dream about what the young kids can become, but Teague and Pritchard have very similar stories. They are about the same size, not blessed with game changing athleticism, were both four star recruits that had to prove their ability in college to get drafted, both late first round picks and assuredly have both worked incredibly hard to get where they are. There might be a lot of cool stories about Pritchard working hard; but EVERYONE who made it to the NBA has worked extremely hard, especially point guards.
Anyway, like a lot of people I've been thinking about unconscious bias more over the past year. There was a discussion in this very thread about Isiah Thomas' comments about Larry Bird, how everyone referred to him as this unbelievable worker while the skills and work ethic of black athletes are taken for granted. I'd love to see Pritchard do well, but I'm also becoming more conscious of the praise he is receiving and if other worthy athletes are getting the same kind of attention, and what that says about fans and society in general.
Also, like everything involving race, there is a Key and Peele skit that it explains it:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IciBKdPlLfE
However, and I say this out of general curiosity and it is not meant at all as an attack on any particular poster; I'm wondering how much of the hype that is taking place in this thread (and on different social media outlets) is because Pritchard is white. There is a lot to like about Pritchard for sure; he has clearly worked really hard to get a crack at the NBA and he seems like a nice kid; but why is there so much chatter about him, while Nesmith, who I also thought had a pretty strong debut, doesn't seem to be getting nearly as much hype.
At the same time, Jeff Teague had a very nice game last night for the Celtics, but basically got shit on in the game thread. I get it; Teague is a known quantity and it is fun to dream about what the young kids can become, but Teague and Pritchard have very similar stories. They are about the same size, not blessed with game changing athleticism, were both four star recruits that had to prove their ability in college to get drafted, both late first round picks and assuredly have both worked incredibly hard to get where they are. There might be a lot of cool stories about Pritchard working hard; but EVERYONE who made it to the NBA has worked extremely hard, especially point guards.
Anyway, like a lot of people I've been thinking about unconscious bias more over the past year. There was a discussion in this very thread about Isiah Thomas' comments about Larry Bird, how everyone referred to him as this unbelievable worker while the skills and work ethic of black athletes are taken for granted. I'd love to see Pritchard do well, but I'm also becoming more conscious of the praise he is receiving and if other worthy athletes are getting the same kind of attention, and what that says about fans and society in general.
Also, like everything involving race, there is a Key and Peele skit that it explains it:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IciBKdPlLfE