Can an NBA team be too white?
 

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish...lves-too-white



Are Minnesota Timberwolves Too White?


Minnesota Timberwolves fans may notice something different about their team this year. In a league in which American-born black players made up 75 percent of roster spots in 2011, the Timberwolves will have an opening-day roster comprising just 33 percent black players (five out of 15).

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, this year's squad will be the league's whitest since the 1980s Boston Celtics.


Is that a problem?

Some civil rights leaders in Minneapolis think so. Tyrone Terrell, chairman of St. Paul's African American leadership council, told the Star-Tribune that he thinks the unbalanced roster could be seen as a ploy by the ownership to sell the team to a majority-white fan base.

"How did we get a roster that resembles the 1955 Lakers?" Terrell said to the Star-Tribune. "I think everything is a strategy. Nothing happens by happenstance."

Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn called the allegations "patently false."

Indeed, while the team lacks as many African-American players as most other squads, the Timberwolves are still quite diverse. Five of their ten white players were born outside of the United States.

Brandon Roy, projected to be the team's only black starter, says the color of his teammates doesn't faze him.

"It's just basketball," Roy said. "I never really had to feel like I'm the only black guy out here. I've played on teams that maybe had all black guys and the feeling is just the same when I'm out there on the floor playing with these guys."

Ron Edwards, a longtime Minneapolis civil rights advocate, told the Star-Tribune that it was "somewhat disturbing" when he saw a game last season in which Wes Johnson was the only black player on the floor for the Timberwolves. The composition of this season's roster has prompted Edwards to react even stronger.

"It raises some real questions to me about what's really intended," Edwards said. "I think, personally, that it was calculated. Is this an attempt to get fans back in the stands? Minnesota, after all, is a pretty white state.''

Edwards added that the Timberwolves' roster decisions are a "nullification of diversity and a reversal of history."

Kahn said the Timberwolves targeted two black players as free agents during the summer. But Portland matched Minnesota's offer to Nicolas Batum, and Jordan Hill opted to re-sign with the Lakers at less money for a better chance to win a championship.

"What if Batum and Hill were here?" Kahn said.

Tyrone Terrell, kindly go **** yourself. People like you are part of the problem.

If they don't want to suck then yes.

Tyrone Terrell seems like a bigot.

So it's a strategy to make the majority of the league black, and not happenstance? Because as Mr. Terrell points out, nothing happens by happenstance (which, if true, makes one wonder what strategy led to the creation of the word 'happenstance').

Methinks there are bigger battles for these gentlemen to fight beyond the fact that black players are merely significantly overrepresented on the roster and not drastically overrepresented.

Tyrone is so full of fail. He indirectly labeled the entire state racists by claiming that the fan base will respond to an all white team.

It seems like he forgot that some of the biggest and most idolized stars that state has had in the last 10 years have been black.

Guess they need to trade Love and Rubio.
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:facepalm:

Exactly.

Wes Johnson was our starting 2 last year, and sometimes played the 3. He sucked ****ing shit. That's why we got rid of him and signed Andrei Kirilenko, who will be much better.

Also, this Tyrone Terrell guy apparently lives in Minneapolis, but doesn't realize that the city isn't any more white than any other midwestern metropolitan city like Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, etc.

The Star Tribune article by Terrell is utter bullshit. I'm glad everybody is blasting this asshole.

I remember when Culpepper would throw to Moss and the stadium would be dead silent, and then they'd all start cheering when Gus Frerotte threw it to Jim Kleinsasser.

Only if you're cheering for them...

Also, you can search my posts from around the NBA draft and find me lamenting the whiteness of my T Wolves. That was mostly in response to us burning a 1st round pick in a trade to land Chase freakin' Budinger. My entire argument has always been that the Wolves lack players who can create their own shot. Last year the only guy on the team who could do that was Love. Thankfully we had Rubio who could find a dildo in a haystack with the basketball, but when he got injured our team crumbled simply because nobody could get off their man on O.

Now we have a (gimped up, but still healthy) Brandon Roy, Kirilenko, and Kevin Love when he comes back. If Rubio gets back to his normal self by the end of the year, our white guys will be just fine.

I know this is a joke, but this brings up an interesting point.

Why do Packer fans yell "KUUUHHHN" everytime he catches a 2 yard dumpoff and waddles for 3 yards? That's not racism, but they clearly like the guy because he's big, fat, and white just like them.

If you ain't black youz racist! I always hated to watch my favorite player George Gervin because he was black...oh wait no i didn't.. carry on.

or when Chief fans cheered for Boomer Grigsby