larry bird is right

[larrybirdno1fan]

we need more white superstars in the nba. it would help the scoring. the nba has too many black guys ib the league for just their d(bruce bowen,ben wallace,micheal curry). we need more scoring look at indiana they dont even play croshere most of the year. he was a played when bird coached them and he proved himself in the playoffs as a scorer but the league is too d minded now.

[DominiqueWilkins]

Quote:

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but the league is too d minded now.

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Hmmm, so you want the games to be like an All-Star game? No defense? What a joke!!

You have no respect for defense, so I would hate to see your own game.

[cyman3]

its interesting how larry bird and dominique wilkens have different views... lol

anyways, i personally like the game the way it is...

the way i see it, it wouldnt HURT to have more white superstars (for argument sake, lets keep europeans out of this- since we're talkin white americans). as far as fan base, i dont go to enuf games to see whether or not more whites watch nba than blacks... so i really cant answer that question.

however, i do think a white american player is very much capable of bein the best player in the NBA or atleast someone whos a top 3 nominee for MVP award... even if they're not athletic... i mean look at REGGIE MILLER, dudes 6'8 or 6'9 and prefers to lay it up instead of dunking... and in his prime, he was one of the best.

as far as defense is concerned... u gotta love DEFENSE. Defense isint something u can teach... its inside u... it emphasizes HARD WORK and EFFORT. i mean, dennis rodman was workin at an airport, sweepin the floors, earnin MIN WAGE before he went PRO...

besides, in a roster of 12 players... 11 of them are hopin to increase their scoring (PPG) next season... so many players in the league are offensive minded...

so we do need more defensive minded players... to compliment the surplus of offensive minded players.

[Weez]

I really don't have a "problem" with what Larry says...and yet at the same time I do. He actually ratoinalized his views...but they didn't really hold up either. If you're going to talk about pure "race," then you have to include the Euro's as "whites," based on genetic traits. One slight trend in the L the past few years has been a resurgence in 'fundamnetals" as a valuable asset to a player...with the decline of "athleticism." This was best proved, if not instigated, by the struggles of such players as Darius Miles. You're seeing guys like Heinrich, flop-top DD. Ridnour, get drafted...(Luke J this year, Luke W previously as well) because some teams realize that they need a player on the floor who's "heady." Yes, it is a generalization that the white guys seem to be more heady while blacks as "more athletic," though the hype of guys like Jason Kidd and Duncan go completely against this.

In essnece, what Larry said was based on a marketing point of view (in his opinion); yet he contradicted himself in saying tha blacks are generally better athletes (I don't htink he said players though..yet I'm mincing words). I also enjoyed watching the whole interview, seeing how people reacted, esp. Melo who appeared taken aback...

oh yeah, I still hate Jim Gray.

[cyman3]

wat race is JASON KIDD, btw?

anyways, yea- the fact that LARRY is white and talkin about how it offends him taht a white guy is guardin him... doesnt really offend peop as much as it would.. if lets say, someone like, MAGIC said something like that...

all in all- i dont have a problem with the whole conversation... but then again, im asian... so it affects me the LEAST...

[Weez]

I'd go with some sort of "mix," though I could be completey wrong.

Regardless the views on what he said, I'm actually sorta impressed that he had the balls to say what he did, back it up (in a way), and not sound too racist (imo). It was weird...you saw the thoughts go through his head, and then him just sorta tell himself, [censored] it, I'm going to say what I feel like saying. Kinda like Bill Cosby three weeks ago (something which, to my great surprise, Barkley completely agreed with on PTI when asked directly). Sorry for the digression...

[Blunt91]

Kidd is Mixed half Black and Half White, just like his look alike Vin Diesel.

[Wretch]

Is that this is sh#t that we talk about in our homes, in here, on the street...where ever y'know? It's just casual conversation. But should someone on TV say the same thing that many of us discuss "down on Earth" then all of a sudden you hear a collective...

*gasp*

From around the nation. Did Larry just say what I think he said? Then the media makes a point to drag a few choice statements out of a conversation while posting a mug shot of LB:

) and it needs heady black players. If for nothing more than to break the stereotypes and taboo subjects.

I'm black, african-american, negroid...whatever; sh#t just doesn't make sense to me. Much in the same way KG makes a light hearted war analogy, and the world overreacts (with me bein' a desert vet who didn't), I find this whole LB issue to be blown way out of proportion.

What I find far more disturbing is the fact that no one has yet to staple Jim Grey's mouth shut. I'd pay billions of dollars (if I had it) to put him and Stephen A. Smith in a real celebrity death match.

[Plainview1981]

Somebody on another site said Kidd is half Irish-

American and half black. Some of Birds comments

sound bad. Sometimes I rag at white guys in the

NBA but it's just me being a pain in the @ss

sometimes. Sometimes I said bad things just for

the heck of it. However, I think Bird really means

what he says. If so, it doesn't sound all the good.

I think the NBA would draw more fans if more players

were like him. You know, with his type if background.

I think it's hard for some people to relate to players

like Shaq and Euro's. Euro's might be white, but I think

they are still hard for white america to relate to.

[CHORO44]

I'm half white and half asian. I don't give a [censored] what Bird thinks. I don't think the NBA should reach out and promote players based on race. If a guy has the talent and the drive then I want to see him in the NBA, if not then let him play at the playground. I don't care if the team is all black or all white or all asian. I don't care that there is a Chinese player in the NBA, [censored] Yao isn't even Chinese-American. All I care about is good basketball and I'd be much happier if Bird would have come out and said we need better basketball players in the NBA, guys with an understanding of the game to go along with the athleticism.

I also completely agree with Weez that the KG "war" comments were way overblown and the media needs to check itself and start firing people who don't report the facts. We need less commentary and more facts, let the people use their brains to draw conclusions.

[Brxa]

If the white players are so inferior, why does Serbia & Montenegro dominate international competition year in and year out? Shouldn't have the dream team (v. 2002) swept through the WCs?

[Weez]

See, that's us reading things into it. Bird didn't say the league needed to promote more white guys, or that white guys in the L need more pub...he said he wished there were more white players in the L. To me, that can easily be construed as bird thinking that white guys need to step up their games/ get better...

[CHORO44]

Does he consider Europeans white then? Cause there will be a ton of them in the league soon.

[KB21]

I don't know if any of you listened to One-on-One sports before it became Sporting News radio, of if you have ever heard of Peter Brown.

Peter Brown had a good point, though a controversial point, when discussing pretty much this same issue.

Brown made the point that the people who buy/can afford the courtside seats and the outrageous prices most teams charge for those seats are white people who have white collar jobs. He made the statement that the attendance in the league was down because these people weren't buying the tickets, and he inferred that they weren't buying the tickets because there was nothing they could relate to on the court.

I've always felt the league made a mistake when they started trying to promote the "playground" style to get the inner city crowd. When they started making rules that helped playground antics, the level of play decreased league wide, IMO.

I believe the league sees this, and this is one reason why they want to impose an age limit, and it's also a reason why international scouting has become bigger and more important. Fundamentals have to be brought back into the league.

When the league placed the no hand check rules, among other things, they started promoting one on one play rather than team play. The result is exactly the opposite of what they were expecting. Instead of more offense, you have less because too many players try to go one on one all the time, ignoring their teammates.

Well, I kind of got off topic there. The point is this, and this is probably a stereotype. White people generally want to see good, fundamental basketball and not all this hip hop culture stuff that the And 1 crew generate. Black people seem to want more of the playground atmosphere.

I think Peter Brown's point was this. When teams are selling courtside seats for $500-$1,000, most of the people buying those tickets are not going to be black. They are going to be white, and they aren't interested in seeing the And 1 style that the NBA tried to inject.

[Traceman]

I want to see incredible athletic feats and wizadry with the ball but I want the players to have basic fundamentals as well. Players like Kobe, T Mac and KG provide the best of both worlds in my opinion as did Jordan, Magic and Bird.