FanPost

The NBA is a Black League—And That Shouldn't Matter

"We can not have an NBA owner discriminating against a league that’s… we’re a black league."

While commenting on Donald Sterling’s well-publicized racist comments earlier this year, Charles Barkley, NBA legend and TNT analyst, gave this take on the National Basketball Association. And with almost 80% of players in the NBA being black, it is hard to argue with him. While his comments seem inconsequential, they tackle an issue that many in the NBA seem reluctant to face. The NBA is a black league—and why should that matter?

Since the NBA Finals received its highest ever television rating in Michael Jordan’s last championship season, The Finals’s television ratings have declined, reaching their low point in 2007. Obviously, the departure of Michael Jordan, the most recognizable athlete in history, factored into the NBA’a decline, but that alone cannot account for it all. Many have attributed a lot of the NBA’s waning popularity to its hip-hop culture, saying that white fans do not connect as well with the black players of the post-Jordan era. And while it seems easy to dismiss this idea as antiquated racism, it seems to be an unfortunate truth.

Judging from the way that the NBA has managed its image in recent years, the league is trying to distance itself from blackness for the consumer’s sake. This was probably no more evident than after the marring player-fan brawl in Detroit in 2004—David Stern, the commissioner at the time, implemented a "business casual" uniform for all players, banning specific clothing items like throwback jerseys, visible chains, and any headgear. In addition, the league also set a minimum age limit that required all American players to be at least 19 and a year out of high school to enter the league.

Stern naturally said that these rules were to help the players look more professional and to prevent kids from "planning the rest of their lives around basketball, because it’s not a good thing to do." Looking at the rules with the slightest skepticism, however, reveals their inherent racial bias. By banning the clothes he did, Stern obviously tried to weed out hip-hop culture and blackness from his league. Additionally, his comments on the age limit suggest a distrust that black youths can make their own life decisions.

The league would never make these rules if it felt like the fans fully accepted and appreciated black players. Some really do care that the NBA is a black league.

Even so, the NBA shouldn’t give into the fans’ bias and cater to the racists. The NBA employs some of the most talented athletes and recognizable figures in the world, most of whom are black. They are all able to overcome the objections of prejudiced fans and rise to stardom—but how? Because the league still goes on without this fickle fan base.

The NBA is still a multi-billion dollar industry with fans around the world. Basketball is the fastest growing sport globally. Ratings have experienced a general resurgence since 2010. There is no doubt that basketball is still a secure industry.

Even so, the NBA’s leaders have made a continual, conscious effort to appeal to a whiter audience. They want to retain this demographic to maximize their profits, and that means that some have to suffer. And, as Donald Sterling showed us, the NBA’s white elite knows exactly who to marginalize.

The league can only begin to distance itself from its long-standing racial issues when its leaders handle racially biased fans appropriately: by deeming them unworthy. If you don’t want to see the world’s best athletes compete in one of sports’ most entertaining platforms, so be it. Let the NBA’s true fans, those who accept people of all colors, enjoy basketball. Do not make us all suffer through the marginalization of our role models for the sake of racism.

It is immoral for professional athletes to be judged on the color of their skin. What is more immoral, however, is that they are marginalized by their bosses to cater to the ideologies of their detractors. The NBA and its audience needs to appreciate these players. For once, they need to receive their well-deserved, proper treatment. After all, as Chuck says, it’s their league.

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