Matt Holiday, Josh Reddick, the aforementioned Drew.
If you're positing that there's some sort of formula where we can put in behavior and race and it can calculate the odds of attempted assault, we can't just hold behavior constant, imagine possible outcomes, and then use that to say there's no effect from race. This is a logical fallacy.
I don’t participate much here, but I can’t remember the details of all the irrelevant responses I’ve felt obligated to respond to. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. On the other hand, you’re suggesting that a White fan has never thrown something at a White player, which is obviously ridiculous. Some people just like to instigate.
Maybe going back too far, but also Bill Laimbeer and Kurt Rambis were, at minimum, showered with all kinds of vile invective at the old garden. And though maybe hard to verify after all this time, getting things thrown at them seems almost certain.
I agree that the incidents could be racist, and that it is impossible for any of us to say definitively that it was 100% or 0% a racist act. Systemic racism may even make it impossible for the individuals themselves to say that definitively.
I sense that the concern over this post is over interpreting it as classifying this 100% as a racist act, which as I said before, I think is impossible to do. But let's say it's 99% or 90% or 10% or 1%. That's still wrong and we should recognize this and be better. We will not be better if we give the Westbrook and Irving perpetrators the benefit of the doubt, just because we can't say with 100% confidence that racism was a factor. Combatting racism should be prioritized ahead of protecting these rule-breakers' reputations.
If that is how people are interpreting my post, they need to work on their reading comprehension. My post was very clear that we have systemic issues with white people in this country looking at black people as less than people. When white people engage in acts that treat black people in a manner consistent with that, we should assume that the racial environment of our country is part of what is animating those acts. That does not mean that the act itself was “racist” in the binary sense that many white people like to think of racism as inhabiting. We need to stop thinking of racism that way, because that is not all that it is.
Maybe. Hopefully. But at times a guy who was injured a lot as a young guy as fewer miles, like Carlton Fisk, and has a long career. His handle is incredible, and he he shoots it well, so if can maintain his body, then he could be good for a long time. Guards' legs are like pitchers arms, they are an injury away from being nobodies.
This is (at least) the second time you've isolated the US as obscenely racist, in particular in regards to how white fans treat black players.
I agree with everything you wrote. The only reason I approached it from a global perspective is because Jake has twice made it specific to the United States, once as the primary point of his post.
This was my point above, as well as Jake's. Just because we can't definitively isolate the racism coefficient in the fan behavior equation doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
I personally don't care about where the US ranks in racism globally. We need to focus on how we can be better tomorrow than we were yesterday. Saying we have less or just as much racism as any other country doesn't do anything to make the problem better.
That specific post was about expanding the specificity from NBA -> USA, not reducing it from World -> USA as you are.
In fairness to Ainge, he played at a time where the racial composition of the Celtics was different.
Well, I mean, of course. Is anyone saying otherwise? Maybe it was directly motivated. Maybe it was subconscious due to a history of looking at the black community as less. I'd argue that we have a pretty long history of treating all celebrities - of any color - as show ponies, and I'd guess that probably has more to do with this incident than subconscious racial bias. But...we'll probably never know.
That's fine. But, again, that wasnt the point of Jake's post. in fact, he clearly states the point of his post.
I understand your point was different, and that's fine. But I wasnt replying to you, I was replying to Jake. Whose main point focused on how the current systemic issues in this country lends itself to the treatment of athletes in the United States. Again, he literally states that's his point above. Highlighting that these issues are prevalent, and often worse, in other parts of the world isnt to deflect from the issues in the United States or deny them all together. I agree they exist.
I think his thesis, which I bolded above, denies this and does a good job emphasizing why we shouldnt speak on others behalf.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/sports/celtics/fan-ided-faces-assault-charge-for-throwing-water-bottle-at-kyrie-irving-td-garden/2394009/
Your response feels very much like a red herring. sibpin is right. I don’t think that racism is a uniquely American problem and I did not say or imply that it was. I was commenting on racism in this country because this country is my community and it also seemed like the salient reference point to a discussion of acts over the past week that have taken place in this country.
This is a more than a little silly. Do we need to post pics of sitting beside black teammates?In fairness to Ainge, he played at a time where the racial composition of the Celtics was different.
They could lose one of either Harden or Kyrie and be fine, but both is tough. No one besides Durant is capable of creating their own offense and they rely so much on iso.
Except for the fact that Kyrie is a cancer and Kemba is by all accounts very well liked. Yes, an injured Kyrie would ostensibly be more tradable than an injured Kemba – but as frustrating as it was to watch this year’s team, it didn’t remotely compare to how fucking terrible Kyrie’s second season w the C’s was.
Dodging the Kurse of the Demon Kyzuzu would have involved unloading him on the Nets for Dinwiddie and filler after he agreed to terms with the Nets in December of '18.
Yeah, the explanation for him leaving is very odd. I think the author is trying to say that he grew tired of having young teammates who didn’t see the game like he did but it’s written very clumsily
I mean I can buy that Durant didn’t agree to the team up until January, but he was texting members of the Nets a month before that to let them know that he’d agreed to contract terms with Brooklyn for the following year. I’m guessing that a lot of what he told the writer was BS. Which shouldn’t be a surprise given that he’s a really unreliable narrator.
