For those that actually care the NBA has been locked out now for well over 100 days. In the past few weeks the NBA and the NBA Players' Association (NBAPA) have been meeting to work on a new collective bargaining agreement. As with most strikes or lockouts there are two sides to every meeting where both sides feel like the other side is not living up to their end of the bargain. To be honest with you, I am not sure most Americans or fans of the NBA know the feeling of a million dollars so to hear them arguing over millions of dollars and how to best to split it up is exhausting so I choose to not pay attention.
It came back into my line of sight last week when I read about Bryant Gumbel's comments on the show "HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel." I have seen this show numerous times and like other HBO documentaries or sports shows it is put together well and is an entertaining show. However, this time Gumbel has gone to new heights and I am shocked that there is not been more outcry asking for him to step down or make an apology.
On the show from Gumbel stated that Stern is "eager to be seen as a modern plantation overseer." The one thing that should not surprise me is the media members and others who have come out defending Gumbel and saying it was taken out of context and that he is not trying to say anything about slavery. How about coming out and saying that his words were unacceptable and that we cannot throw race into every argument, because it is the easiest thing to do. The video below is the ending of the show where Gumbel makes his comments about the commish.
David Stern, who is considered one of the best pro sport commissioners, has done tons for the NBA with its mostly African American player base. He fought to bring in African American ownership and more coaches and assistants. He strives to have the offices reflect the product on the court and he has gone a long way to get there. He has some of the highest paid players in any sports most of which are African American. So what he is a white man operating a sport that is dominated by black athletes, it has not seemed to be an issue during the numerous other lockout or strike negotiations, why is it an issue now..............
I tweeted about this recently and received a note back that "whites do not have the right to complain about racism." Well I tried to respond to that message, but it was deleted before I could. Not only do I not agree with that statement, but let's move forward with this argument. If the roles were reversed and a white media member had a race related negative comment about a black sports commissioner, Jesse Jackson and the whole crew would have been out in front of this leading the charge for that white media member losing their job and wanting a public apology. Whether Gumbel meant it that way or not is irrelevant, he said it and must pay the consequences for his actions, period. Hasn't Gumbel always been criticized in the black community as well for acting white.....
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