Help Wanted in the NBA…only one ethnic group wants to help

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Recently, at a wedding, I ran into an FBF (Facebook Friend) which is very different from a BFF (Best Friend Forever). We were catching up, and he started asking me questions about 6ixthman and somehow we drifted onto the topic of Blacks in the NBA and the fact that African American players are the overwhelming majority in that sport. Specifically, blacks make up about 76% of the world’s most renowned professional basketball organization. What was funny is that my friend then mentioned genetics as a factor and I thought, then that must be why blacks don’t play hockey (lol).  We’re genetically predisposed to indoor sports. I have an idea…but I borrowed it.

I did a bit of research a couple of summers ago that arrived to a “common sense” type of conclusion about this statistic. Blacks flood the applicant pool. I’ve had student-athletes from other countries ask me if blacks have an extra tendon near their ankles and in their calves. They said they had been taught this in school. Is there a chuckle/smirk emoticon? For a sport to be so grossly overrepresented by one ethnicity in light of the world’s diversity, it must mean that for every 10 players interested in a career in the NBA, perhaps better than 8 of them are African-American. Blacks only constitute 12-14% of the United States population I believe. Feel free to correct. So why this homogeneity in a sport invented by a white person?

See that’s what I want to research man. There are fascinating sociological factors that must contribute to what my friends in high school called the Negro Basketball Association. From failing freshmen to Phi Beta Kappa caliber black males, it seemed like we all grew up aspiring and perhaps even believing that with the right regimen, we could join the ranks of hardwood greats, not to mention the Emerald City of cash beyond the yellow brick road leading from the inner-city. The most peculiar piece, however, on this subject for now is that when I was a 3.5 to 4.0 student, I and my friends were willing to gamble, mortgage everything for NBA stardom. People poorer than me believed that they were the 1 in 3400 that will make it (.03%). I thought I was the one and so did my neighbor and hundreds of thousands in the greater Los Angeles region. And that’s just LA. It seems so counter intuitive to gamble all when you’re barely surviving but there’s something to be said for desperation. I feel a second post coming on.

Pay Yourself

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DogboneDogbone 2So these guys dressed up like 80s aerobics instructors, dubbed themselves “Dogbone” and played in Hoopfest (Spokane, WA) the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world. They were carrying a boom box that bumped the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited” while bedecked in leotards. I didn’t even mention the glued on handlebar mustaches. They were the intentional laughing stock of the tournament and some teams simply refused to play them opting to take a forfeit instead.

Honestly, these guys were making a mockery of basketball in some respects but the comedy was a great idea for paying yourself. For Dogbone, they’re just having fun, each member mutilating their feet by playing on asphalt with canvas Keds. I’m sure these guys have jobs like the thousands who travel into Spokane on flights booked months in advance. We’re all Dogbone. We need a payoff everyday for the hard work and it gets overlooked.

I used to criticize myself after my pursuit to play professional basketball came to a close because it seemed like I was supposed to grow up, start swinging golf clubs and running marathons for cathartic purposes. The problem was that I hate running if it involves only running and golf is an endorphin killer for me. My payoff is hoop and I have a game tonight, tomorrow night Saturday and Sunday. I’m convinced that most people have chosen a job, career or temporary employment that isn’t a dream job. It’s nothing shameful because your kids need real electricity to keep warm and real food on the table. Working worked for the 7 dwarfs and it works for you and I. But you young guys and girls aren’t working yet, likely, and you’re developing your affinities for the activities you enjoy. It is and will be these activities that serve as payment after long days of giving your best energy to the thing that pays your salary. You’re more than a  tradesman, exchanging goods for currency. Shoot, for your adults, you’re even more than a mom or dad. You’re more than a student. Chances are, you are an artist, athlete or some other gift bearing soul that has neglected…YOU. Man, pay yourself. Do the thing that you currently or formerly looked forward to (It goes without saying that the activity should be moral and legal right?) For every day you’re enlivened, you could be a step closer to discovering purpose within or beyond the daily grind.

Are we starved for attention?

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Like many of your parents, my mom worked hard to provide for my sister and I by earning her paychecks via the Los Angeles Unified School District. We had food to eat, clothes to wear and for whatever reason, my mom liked us enough to applaud our accomplishments. Also similar to many of you, however, I realized we didn’t have disposable income and it was rare that I asked for new clothes. The way I understood things in the 1980s was that you came straight home from school, fed yourself, got down on that homework, did a chore and watched cartoons (not always in that order).  Mom worked late some nights which was all the more reason for a young “brotha” to toe the line. It just seemed normal to be a team player when your mom is out there trying to make it. Don’t ask for more than you need, enjoy and be thankful for what you have. Life was simple on 48th Street.

What isn’t simple is the thirst of the modern athlete for attention. In fairness, I offer the disclaimer that when making observations casually about society, one can only judge behavior if judge is the appropriate verb. Nevertheless, from high school amateur to professional the one thing that grosses me out is pretentious, Peacock boasting. In the interest of time, we can skip the examples and shoot straight to the rationales I hear for the displays of arrogance on the field, court, diamond, etc. Some common euphemisms for arrogant celebration include: Entertainment, Excitement, Justifiable Exuberance and the like. I deduce that if fans are pleased, players are simply expressive or if athletes can walk the talk they talk, boasting is simply par for the course.

But everything has a utility, a purpose, a general functionality. Runnin’ ones mouth, talkin’ “you know what” and beating ones own chest appears to say, “I’m starving for attention I desperately deserve.” I could see the truth in that when you hear some of the horror stories of how athletes grew up abused and dejected. Much is revealed when success is ultimately and unexpectedly realized. But my question of the day is how many people use arrogance as a defense mechanism because the inner man has been critically wounded. It ain’t hard to tell. When something like boastful pride strikes a chord in me I’ve learned to ask why anyone would make themselves a target on the next play? I mean, if you show up the other team on this play, aren’t they coming for you on the next one, possibly to end your career? A decent coach would never prescribe such behavior. There can only be one reason. The boaster is compensating for something. You know how I know? Because no one can be great 100% of the time and that’s what bragging suggests…that I’m great all of the time.

At day’s end the only reason I came to hate the celebratory shenanigans is because I was a boastful jerk on the inside. I was waiting for my day in the sun (pros) to come that never came but I was still that guy. And I can tell you it had everything to do with trying to prove something to people. You’d think my mom and sister would have been all the encouragement I needed but I still battled insecurity so I know the guys on television can’t be so different than me. I guess money really isn’t a healing salve because I’m not starving anymore. May every hot doggin’, showboating jock find what they really need and kick the addiction.

Crime Scene: The Taming of Conviction

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dr king stabbedThere’s a cost to acting based on convictions and this isn’t a newsflash per se. However, the willingness to absorb that cost is rare. It’s a strange dichotomy. On one hand, people know well that personal values are core to who we are and driving forces for how we live but this is often suppressed by some “other” force. Start with two cases in point. First, Dr. Martin Luther King, the iconic leader of the American Civil Rights movement was stabbed with a letter opener by Izola Ware Curry while at a book signing in Harlem. The year was 1958 and doctors were quoted as having said that King was one sneeze away from dying 10 years before his ultimate assassination.King never pressed charges, as I understand it, and asked that Curry receive help from a mental hospital.

While Curry may have been deranged, the historic stabbing made me think that many Blacks could have been upset with King, who became a catalyst for the firestorm that led to legislated racial equality. In other words, I’m sure a lot of people had learned to live WITH racism and didn’t want no preacher man disturbing the “peace”.

I promised cases in point so here’s a second. The University of Southern California, the University of Florida and other notable football powerhouses took the field on Saturday to begin a quest for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) championship. Cut to the chase. The Trojans and Gators trounced their opponents scoring more than 55 points respectively and holding the inferior competition under a touchdown. The coaches of the titan athletic programs of the NCAA always have a hard choice. Running up the score, not that it was intentional, bodes well for moving up the BCS rankings. But it looks terrible. And let’s play devil’s advocate and assume the worst. If an athletic program is single-mindedly pursuing a National Championship, what coach is willing to wager his job on sportsmanship? A win isn’t a win. A win is when you dismember your adversary because then, a computer can tabulate the level of dominance and move you closer to a place in the pantheon of legendary collegiate teams.

See, my point is simple. We’ve got to keep our heads up and more importantly our character foremost. The goal doesn’t justify the means anymore than job security justifies the blowout or discontent justifies killing the leader of a righteous movement. Standing for what’s right is a hackneyed expression that preaches better than it lives. We live to temper the parts of society that pervert character and integrity in favor of convenience.

guides

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Me and PabloTwice I went to Brazil and twice I needed a guide. The last trip was in 2002 to Manaus, a city located in the Northwest region of the country practically along the Amazon River. I was the leader of a team of native Californians who ranged from high school graduates to young professionals. I was the leader in name only.

Pablo pictured to the left and his wife Colleen worked with Project Amazon and had lived the greater part of their marriage in beloved Brazil. They had one daughter who had traveled to the U.S. for college but was set to return afterward. Pablo and Colleen spoke Portuguese and were respected partners in several of the local churches. They were empowering to the Brazilian pastors and faithful to the cause to which they devoted their lives. They were the type of people you could see building a successful business by risking their life savings. I mean they were “all in”. That’s why they were the perfect guides.

Guides are everywhere working under aliases and functioning more like mentors than bus drivers who point out Chuck Norris’ house along the tour route. In basketball, guides work under the guise of assistant coach, graduate assistant, head athletic trainer, team captain and of course head coach. But the guide has to be a “Pablo” or a “Colleen” to be worth your time. Translation: your guides have to know the language of the realm to communicate and help you survive. Second, it’s vital that your guide provide an itinerary for you that’s challenging but not too advanced. When you’re being guided, the assumption is that you don’t know your way around. Too difficult a course doesn’t train you for independence. Third, your “Pablo” or “Colleen” must know when to trust you to try new endeavors and be prepared for your mistakes. Lastly, and Pablo & Colleen were great at this, the guide has to provide leisure. I walked through Bat guano (Bat poop) and stood inches from bats in a pitch-black cave not-to-mention swimming in Amazonian waterfalls and baptizing several of our team members impromptu. Oh, Pablo let me drive the van one afternoon to take the team to run an errand. Have you driven in South America?

If you’re a guide, maybe you realize the multi-faceted role you play but we all stand to be reminded of the value of both guiding and being guided in a holistic fashion. Guides don’t point the way. They show it, traverse it, make it 3-D to the apprentices. No one forgets a guide.

“We got Shaq….wait…We had Shaq…Now they got Shaq.”

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Shaquille O’neal is quotable. He once said, “From this day on, I would like to be known as the Big Aristotle.” The philosopher formerly known as “The Diesel” provided one of my best Lakers memories in the summer of 1996. It was rumored that O’neal was attempting to work out a trade from the Orlando Magic to the Lakers. I was in Oakland, California visiting friends when the news of the trade being finalized hit the newspapers. What do you think I talked about for the next 24 hours straight? We got Shaq. We got Shaq. I probably said it so much that I began mumbling, “We got Shaq” in my sleep.

Shaq is no longer a Laker but for eight years (1996-2004) the Lakers re-established themselves as a power in the Western Conference of the NBA. They won three straight championships from 2000-2002. But all of this was made possible because one dominant player carefully evaluated his career and changed teams in the off-season. The natural question I am tempted to ask of anyone who changes teams in the off-season is, “Did they evaluate carefully or did they quit?” There is a fine line between quitting and changing teams for good reason. Perhaps Orlando Magic fans were not as pleased with Shaq’s departure as I was with his arrival. They may have viewed him as someone abandoning a franchise primed for another run at the NBA title. Orlando had lost to Houston in the 1995 NBA Finals. Nevertheless, Shaq may have made the best choice for his career and his family.

When a player leaves a team at the professional level it often has to do with one of two things: money and/or an opportunity to win a championship. After being swept in the NBA Finals by the Houston Rockets in 1995, Shaq undoubtedly desired another chance at a championship. He had to decide if he would get such an opportunity in Orlando or would he stand a better chance somewhere else. He chose Los Angeles as a possibility with its history of winning and current distress. By the time Shaq joined the team in L.A. the days of “Showtime” were long gone. The Lakers were not a viable Western Conference contender in the mid-90s but Shaq apparently saw an opportunity to rebuild a franchise. He evaluated carefully and made his move. It resulted in three championships. In 2004 he moved again and it resulted in another championship with the Miami Heat.

There’s likely a very fine line between quitting, selling out to highest bidder and capitalizing on a sound opportunity. It’s easy to trivialize which of these categories best describes our choices to “change teams”. Most if not all of us are susceptible to temptation by money and/or attention. But if and when new opportunities present themselves, the only requisite is honesty and courage. The honesty will show you your raw motivation and the courage will propel you toward making a decision most consistent with who you were created to be.

They aren’t who we thought they were

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IzbWUJxDZw

Remember the Denis Green meltdown from a couple of years ago when the then coach of the Arizona Cardinals went on an absolute tirade following a blown win against the Chicago Bears? If not, the short recap is that Green cursed and ranted his way into NFL history with the famous words, “They are who we thought they were” as he answered questions about how the Cardinals squandered a magnificent effort against one  of the leagues best teams.

But all NFL coaching career changes aside, I love the famous words turned axiom and they are indicative of one of my most prized lessons – that you actually ARE NOT who you thought you were. Look around you and at you, consider the mistakes friends make and perhaps loved ones have made. Refrain from judging but undeniably you can admit that you know people you never thought would go to jail, never thought would have children while in high school, never thought would walk away from their Faith, etc. Better still, gaze in the mirror and admit the condition of your life today, the non-romanticized version. You thought you were better than that, above those immoral tendencies and strong enough to evade the stumbling blocks of youthful ignorance but it turns out you weren’t. You were and are just as capable of failure as the person you’ve judged.

You’ve learned , are learning or will learn that three perspectives are worth having in mind and they are that: #1 You need to know who you thought you were #2 You need to start thinking honestly about who you want to be and #3 You need to determine the steps it will take to move you from where you are to where you were meant to be.

Here’s my Dennis Green coming out. “I’m tired of people pretending and letting themselves off the hook.” I don’t know how we develop false senses of identity but the value of honest evaluation of one’s life + the resilience to respond to the assessment should equal righting of the ship like you’ve never seen. You may not be who you thought you were but now is the optimal time to become who you know you really are.