ESPN Writer Blames Racism For White NBA Stars’ Success

In today’s culture of perpetual offense and outrage, virtually any subject can be reduced to allegations of racism.

One recent example involves ESPN’s William C. Rhoden, who penned an op-ed for the website Andscape in which he denounced those who have the audacity to celebrate achievements by White basketball players.

He begins the piece with a seemingly balanced take on Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who was named the NBA Finals MVP.

“My issue is not with proclamations of Jokic’s greatness but with the premature coronation of Jokic as the greatest ever, the greatest of all time, the best center the NBA has ever seen — the best of all time,” Rhoden argued, adding that such an accolade “can only be assessed at the end of a career.”

If a large number of fans and analysts were calling Jokic “the greatest ever,” Rhoden’s take would be a valid one — of course, he offers no evidence that this is a widespread belief among NBA enthusiasts.

Instead, he moved on to a discussion of the divisive remarks made earlier this year by ex-NBA player Kendrick Perkins, who insisted that Jokic was only popular because he is White.

“Perkins’ assessment was not entirely wrong, and the intense pushback he received was evidence that Perkins pricked a familiar nerve of race and racism in the United States,” Rhoden claimed.

The writer went on to reference perhaps the most famous White NBA player of all time, Larry Bird, to drive home his ephemeral allegation. 

He cited remarks Dennis Rodman made after Bird led the Boston Celtics to a playoff victory in 1987.

At the time, Rodman described Bird as “very overrated” and only received MVP awards due to his race, insisting: “Larry Bird is a very, very good basketball player. But if he was Black, he’d be just another guy.”

It is worth noting that Perkins seemed to distance himself from his earlier insinuation that Jokic was an overrated talent.

In a statement earlier this month, he called Jokic “the most skilled center to ever touch the damn basketball,” criticizing his own industry and employer for not doing “a better job of promoting and marketing him.”