Sick of the NBA-Bashing!(rant)

After the brawl at MSG, the anti-NBA yahoos came out of the woodwork. I read their letters in the paper and heard them on talk shows. "This is why I don't follow the NBA", "It's a league full of thug millionaires", "I can't relate to these players with their cornrows and tattoos", blah, blah, blah. What a bunch of sh!t. Brawls happen in baseball, football & hockey. Players in those leagues wear tatts(white as well as black). So why does the NBA get stereotyped as a "thug" league?

Glad you brought this topic up. Last week the comments by Steve Francis really pissed me off. For those who didn't hear them, he claimed the reason why brawls in the NBA are so heavily scrutinized is because the league is black. Then ESPN debated it, and said that it is more acceptable in Baseball, Football, and Hockey, hence there must be a racist sentiment.

Why does everyone feel it's always a matter of race? Obviously the reason NBA fights are so publicized is because they are so few and far between. In the 5 or 6 years that I've watched the NBA, I can only recall 3 noteworthy incidents, which is far fewer than any other professional sports league. The Palace brawl, the Knicks Brawl, and Rasheed going into the stands in Portland are the only ones that I can even think of. Heck, in one baseball season there are 5X more incidents than that, and in football and hockey, there are practically that many incidents each day. If it were all due to race, Football would be equally scrutinized (there are a lot of black players in the NFL), but it isnt. It's all due to the nature of the game. David Stern has done such a good job at controling NBA violence that the few major incidents are vastly blown out of proportion.

Streetball is the primary reason the NBA is not as universally accepted as football and baseball. Streetball just oozes the thug mentality, and although most NBA players are not that way, people who haven't followed the league don't realize that. That's why I supported David Stern enacting the dress code.

It would be naive to think there's no racial element to NBA-bashing from the "fans". I hear the nastiness in their words. Not being able to relate to a black player because of cornrows and tattoos is plain ignorant & silly.

It would be naive to think there's no racial element to NBA-bashing from the "fans"

Perhaps, but that's not what I was talking about. I'm talking about the exposure that NBA fights recieve.

Why does everyone feel it's always a matter of race? Obviously the reason NBA fights are so publicized is because they are so few and far between. In the 5 or 6 years that I've watched the NBA, I can only recall 3 noteworthy incidents, which is far fewer than any other professional sports league. The Palace brawl, the Knicks Brawl, and Rasheed going into the stands in Portland are the only ones that I can even think of. Heck, in one baseball season there are 5X more incidents than that, and in football and hockey, there are practically that many incidents each day. If it were all due to race, Football would be equally scrutinized (there are a lot of black players in the NFL), but it isnt. It's all due to the nature of the game. David Stern has done such a good job at controling NBA violence that the few major incidents are vastly blown out of proportion.

Nicely said.
Francis' comment was stupid and irrelevant. While there has been some issues in the past with racism in the league, I really don't think that applies to what happened at the Garden. It might have been Lee fouling Najera or Kleiza, and still the same thing could have happened...

It would be naive to think there's no racial element to NBA-bashing from the "fans". I hear the nastiness in their words. Not being able to relate to a black player because of cornrows and tattoos is plain ignorant & silly.

what about all the black kids who cant relate to white people cause they have long hair, or cause they dont play flashy?

what about all the black kids who cant relate to white people cause they have long hair, or cause they dont play flashy?

Well anyone who's bothered by that stuff has a problem and needs to get a life. I'm just going by what I've read and heard since the brawl. It seems to be directed at black NBA ballplayers and it's unfair. The other leagues have their "problem children" but the NBA's nothing but a bunch of thug millionaires? C'mon, that's not right.

It would be naive to think there's no racial element to NBA-bashing from the "fans". I hear the nastiness in their words. Not being able to relate to a black player because of cornrows and tattoos is plain ignorant & silly.

what about all the black kids who cant relate to white people cause they have long hair, or cause they dont play flashy?

LOL...do you see little black kids on PTI and Around the Horn? Do you hear black kids on the radio? Do you read articles written by black kids in the newspaper? No...the people who are "important", which is the upper-class fans and media members are the ones who are expressing negative feelings about the NBA, not black kids.

Cause the NBA is associated with HipHop, and to ignorant people, Hip hop only for Thugs and gangbangers. Plain and simple. . people are ignorant like that.

It would be naive to think there's no racial element to NBA-bashing from the "fans". I hear the nastiness in their words. Not being able to relate to a black player because of cornrows and tattoos is plain ignorant & silly.

what about all the black kids who cant relate to white people cause they have long hair, or cause they dont play flashy?

LOL...do you see little black kids on PTI and Around the Horn? Do you hear black kids on the radio? Do you read articles written by black kids in the newspaper? No...the people who are "important", which is the upper-class fans and media members are the ones who are expressing negative feelings about the NBA, not black kids.

Yeah, Cause black kids simply use it as entertainment. After the brawl I'm sure black kids at school were like. . .

"Oh Man, did you see Carmelo slap that bitch and ran away like a lil bitch?"

"Nah Nigga, Are you fo real??"

"Yeah Man, Nigga was bitch made son, Got on the train and left cause he didn't wanna scrap. Lil Bitch Ass Nigga"

LOL. . .

I mean I was laughing at that shit too. . .

Why does everyone feel it's always a matter of race? Obviously the reason NBA fights are so publicized is because they are so few and far between. In the 5 or 6 years that I've watched the NBA, I can only recall 3 noteworthy incidents, which is far fewer than any other professional sports league. The Palace brawl, the Knicks Brawl, and Rasheed going into the stands in Portland are the only ones that I can even think of. Heck, in one baseball season there are 5X more incidents than that, and in football and hockey, there are practically that many incidents each day. If it were all due to race, Football would be equally scrutinized (there are a lot of black players in the NFL), but it isnt. It's all due to the nature of the game. David Stern has done such a good job at controling NBA violence that the few major incidents are vastly blown out of proportion.

Nicely said.
Francis' comment was stupid and irrelevant. While there has been some issues in the past with racism in the league, I really don't think that applies to what happened at the Garden. It might have been Lee fouling Najera or Kleiza, and still the same thing could have happened...

no it couldn't, because Lee is a nicer guy....but yeah, I don't really think race is the factor here....I know over here in Australia, the only time you see NBA highlights on normal tv (not cable tv), it is because there has been a brawl or Bogut has been drafted....that's it....so that's what the media portrays....

It's not considered a thug league, those comments are just coming hot off the knicks brawl. People always react knee-jerk to anything that happens. It was never called anything like that during Jordan's days, or Magic & Bird's day before that.

Those same people probably consider what normal kids wear and the music they listen to as "thug" clothes and "thug" music anyway. A lot of sportswriters are completely out of touch.

I'd say the NBA is considered a much more 'thug' league than that of any other, including the NFL. It was never called that during the days of Jordan, Magic, and Bird, because the league was entirely different then, as were those stars you mention. The image they presented was a far cry from the ones we get on our televisions today from guys like Allen Iverson & Co.

Definately race related. Don't a lot of African-Americans have this "poor-to-rich" thing? Then they have to act/be tough to show they've done it to be rich and you can't mess with them...

I'd say the NBA is considered a much more 'thug' league than that of any other, including the NFL. It was never called that during the days of Jordan, Magic, and Bird, because the league was entirely different then, as were those stars you mention. The image they presented was a far cry from the ones we get on our televisions today from guys like Allen Iverson & Co.

I agree. The NBA's close connection with hip-hop has turned off many people. I hear it all the time.

People are far to sensitive these days. If there was a fight in your workplace would you be so disgusted to leave your job? I know I wouldn't.

It was just a fight. Fights happen all the time, and these sports stars are still people, and people fight. As pansy and perfect as you want to be, humans do fight. It's just human nature.

What happened in the "brawl" was alot like if somebody went out to hurt your friend, while your friend was defenseless. What would you do? I would jump in there and protect him, I don't want to see my friend get his neck broken by some retarded rookie point guard listening to his crazy ass coach. I would definitely react violently if I was Carmelo, and so would almost everyone else, but because the world frowns upon something as human as violence these stars are now seen as "thugs".

Were any guns pulled? Knives? Was anyone badly hurt? No. In the real world, this was a minor scuffle between to groups of teammates, all looking to protect each other and send a message to their attackers.

I really can't see how people can be so disgusted by something so human-like. These guys aren't animals, so stop treating them like that.

I do not think it is a "thug league", but in my opinion those "gangsta" attitude players became more and more. I mean, JR Smith and Melo feel kinda gangsta and are no real idols or something like that. On the other side the thing with the "cornrows and tattos" is among the silliest things I´ve heard so far. I think professional basketballer is one of the few jobs in which tattos make sense, since they show their arms to the whole world all the time and some tattos maybe make them feel more attractive in a way.

The NBA fights do get blown out of proportion because of race becasuse of the hip-hop "bad-boy" element that has entered the game. The NFL has more accepted fights because the way the sport is played. I mean, players in the NBA are called for fouls if players reach-in for the ball. The fights should be unnecessary in the game because it is not really an overly aggressive sport. However Baseball is the same and fights are a part of the game.

The NBA fights do get blown out of proportion because of race becasuse of the hip-hop "bad-boy" element that has entered the game. The NFL has more accepted fights because the way the sport is played. I mean, players in the NBA are called for fouls if players reach-in for the ball. The fights should be unnecessary in the game because it is not really an overly aggressive sport. However Baseball is the same and fights are a part of the game.

it has nothing to do with race why the fights get blown out out of proportion, it has to do with stern not wnting his league to have a poor image like say the nfl does. fights are apart of hockey so you can ignore them in that sport (plus who watches hockey anymore anyway?). tha nba makes its money mostly from the black players so do you honestly think they would try to over punish its cash cow? yelling its cause of race is the easy way out nowadays and it seems everyone is doing it. its a damn good way to shift the attention from the real problem.

Good point but do you think that a bigger deal would have been made if the flagrant was between Lee and Najera. All's I'm saying is because the main culprits were black guys the media tend to label them with this 'thug' image whereas it wouldn't happen with Najera or Lee. It's the link between the NBA and hip-hop that gives the NBA the bad-boy image about the black players.

Good point but do you think that a bigger deal would have been made if the flagrant was between Lee and Najera

No, because Lee and Najera suck. Had it been Steve Nash, or Jason Kidd in the fight, there would have been just as much attention on it.

Well Mardy Collins and JR Smith aren't exatcly superstars in their own right like Kidd and Nash yet a big deal was made of it.

Well Mardy Collins and JR Smith aren't exatcly superstars in their own right

Did you just conveniently forget the Carmelo was the biggest culprit in the fight?

Right... Carmelo is no superstar...

Did you just conveniently forget the Carmelo was the biggest culprit in the fight?

If Mardy didn't try anal the back of J.R's neck none of that would have happened. Nate escalated the fight.

Right after the foul J.R stares and gives Mardy a push, Knicks jump in, Carmelo comes running in, pushes Mardy Collins away and gets hit by Nate Robinson, Andre Miller retaliates and tackles Robinson into the photographers. Miller gets up along with Nate and Knicks, Nuggets and coaches all try to separate them. Carmelo then gets pushed by an assistant Knicks coach, but moves around him and hits Mardy Collins, after which Jared Jeffries and Nate Robinson chase Carmelo back to half court. Two Knicks come out to restrain Jeffries but he keeps going after Melo, but instead grabs Najera by the shorts and continues to head towards the Nuggets bench. As Jeffries heads towards the bench, another Knicks player gets into the Denver bench area and is pushed away by two Nuggets players. Jared Jeffries is then pushed off the court by a Knicks assistant and heads to midcourt and talks to Isiah Thomas.

In my eyes Nate Robinson escalated this beyond what would have happened. Had Carmelo came in and pushed Mardy like he did and Nate had not thrown a punch, the fight would have probably just came to shoves from both sides and would of been resolved, considering Mardy Collins stayed out of it, Andre Miller stepped out, and Nate Robinson (temporarily) stepped out.