In the 1980s, the National Basketball Association (NBA) experienced a revival in fan interest sparked by a hyped team rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, and by the personal rivalry between their two respective superstars, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Bird is white, Johnson is black, so their rivalry was “racialized” in a sport in which the majority of players are black, and it was widely assumed that the best white players could not match the best black players in the game. Bird’s former teammate Cedric Maxwell recalls his skepticism when Bird first set foot on the court in the Celtics camp, echoing what he deems a “racist” sentiment among many black players who “did not think you could find a white guy who could play better than any black guy,” only to watch Bird hit jump shot after jump shot and realize “this white guy can play.”
Ever since Earl Lloyd became the first black man to play an NBA game, the proportion of black players has steadily and inexorably increased. While there are still gains to be made in the front office, it is a different story on the court. A 2016 report on the paucity of white American players notes that “[a]ccording to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the NBA was 74.3 percent black during the 2015–16 season and 81.7 percent were people of color.” As former Orlando Magic center Rony Seikaly is said to have remarked, “If 80 percent of the league is black, that means that black players are better than white players ... the black players are superior. No doubt.” If Ibram X. Kendi is right when he says, “When I see racial disparities, I see racism,” then it follows that, on the court, basketball is a racist sport, and the NBA is a racist organization. Doesn’t it?
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