Posted by martin:

Posted by jazz74:

Posted by martin:

Posted by jazz74:

the reprecussions are negative media attention. the possibility of offending key members of the staff not to mention players. credibility possibly damaged.

I'll have to check in with Austin Croshere and Jeff Foster to see if their feelings were hurt; they're busy watching the DVD of White Men Can't Jump and forming letters to send off to political representatives in their district. I'll get back to you on what Artest & ONeil have to say about being considered some of the best athletes in the world, although the praise may be a blow to their egos. Donnie Walsh may not be able to do his job either, so maybe Al Harrington won't be on a new team next year. Don't know about the media, but they usually like the attention.

come on, martin. you know what i mean. sometimes what people say are very powerful and could start ripple effects. it is hard to shake that stigmatation. like isiah's comments about larry bird 15 years ago. i am sure that a person like thomas could have had many more offers for jobs and a lot sooner but there are people who remember him agreeing on a comment. not saying but just agreeing with a teammate. so what it was supposed to be a "positive" generalization. just becuase it was positive gives him the right to categorize the whole race? practically saying the nba is too black is "positive"? like i said, i do not think he really meant to categorize anybody but it is all semantics. you need to be careful about how you word things. i agree that race is a topic that are too sensitive for most people including african americans. but a person dealing with the media almost on a daily basis since the age of 19 should know better.

Oh I do know what you mean, but you get my point too.

I think Larry's comment about black athletes being the best in the world was an OK comment; verily, no one gets hurt and it was a generalization and an observation and not meant to be derogatory (and would be a stretch to think that that particular could be construed as derogatory or demeaning). Needing more white players in the NBA... that can certainly be taken a few different ways (marketing perspective vs. too many black athletes).

Bird is a person who is in a position that is noticeable, so are a lot of people. Doesn’t mean that they are not stupid or won’t say stupid things. Everyone should realize that. I would be concerned if Larry was talking about this at a school or in an interview for Kids Sport Illustrated. He answered a question in an ESPN interview. You KNOW that ESPN was looking to sensationalize the whole thing, and most likely asked him the question on purpose hoping for the response he gave. Why no outcry or badmouthing for ESPN?

ok. i will agree with that assessment. i have to admit that bird was put on the spot and he was honest. you are right that espn has a history of finding controversial questions and twisting it to benefit them.