Equality: The Role Of Discrimination In The NBA

The NBA influences more Americans during their season than any other professional sports league. According to The Elias Sports Bureau, the world's leading source of statistics in professional sports, the NBA brings in the most viewers (20.2 million) for its championship games. This statistic suggests the NBA needs to be held to a higher standard and abolish the hatred and discrimination that infects this institution. Since they have such a huge audience, they have the opportunity to teach many viewers of all ages about respect and equality. This can only be done with strict rules and regulations for every organization that makes up the NBA no matter their owner, record, or income. The NBA needs to change for the better as stereotypes have been
In the 1950s, “Los Angeles, now home to the beloved Lakers, originally had a policy of not allowing blacks on the team” (Harlem World). A team in the league today cannot possibly discriminate more than Los Angeles did for most of the 1950s. The team’s policy against black players had nothing to do with their ability and skills because many players were clearly qualified. Los Angeles had no black players on their team for six years due to racist and discriminatory actions. Bob Williams, the first black player to play for Los Angeles, started on the team in 1956 (Harlem World). Six years went by without a black player on their team. How were these racist policies allowed to persist in the NBA? Throughout the early history of the NBA, racist patterns of behavior limited the chances for black players in the league. In fact, many black “all-American status ball players” were “drafted by the NBA but then [would] abruptly find themselves cut from the team. The racism that existed within the NBA destroyed the careers of a lot of would-be greats” (Harlem World). Racist beliefs and actions in the league took these players’ opportunities of creating a great career. The league started to slowly progress by increasing the number of black players on teams, but they took a step back in terms of racial equality. These black players go from an active roster spot to being cut, without regard to talent or
In the league, stereotypes persist that only move the league away from racial equality for everyone. Sports reporter Bob Frantz’s racist comments about the NBA demonstrate widespread attitudes that make up part of the current problem. Frantz wrote, “A league filled with guys that look like thugs is bound to be filled with guys that act like thugs” (Salon). Language like Frantz’s hurts the league and keeps it from progressing. The league is mostly made up of black players just as referred to in the quote. According to Frantz, based on the way people look will determine that these “thugs” are “bound” to act as thugs. One of the present goals for equality is for the league to destroy these types of remarks and situations altogether. The author knows he “saw the racial stereotypes of some whites up close—their firm belief that white athletes admirably succeeded because of hustle and hard work and brains, and black athletes succeeded solely on the basis of pure athletic skill.”(Business insider). This belief is false and offensive, it implies that black people do not work hard at the sport because they are athletic. It also states that all white people succeed only because of their hard work and brains. The league's present goals continue to strive for equality for all. Dr. Laymon said, “But the game isn’t the NBA. It’s [the] American racial empire, when rich white men own the teams,