Mr. Yost

October 9th, 2014 at 6:13 AM ^

And he didn't apologize either.

ESPN = TMZ Sports = ESPN

Making a story out of nothing. I read that article an hour ago and was going to post but it's just that...NOTHING.

I was happy to read some of the comments, which are usually an embarrassment to the human race.

No one seems to think this is a deal, let alone a big deal.

I do wonder what Larry Bird thinks though. Didn't he say he used to get offended when the other team guarded him with a white guy?

APBlue

October 9th, 2014 at 7:07 AM ^

From this June 2004 article, http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1818396

 

"The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me," Bird said. "I still don't understand why. A white guy would come out (and) I would always ask him: 'What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?' And he'd go, 'No,' and I'd say, 'Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.' ... For some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy.

"As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me -- red, yellow, black," Bird added. "I just didn't want a white guy guarding me. Because it's disrespect to my game."

LSAClassOf2000

October 9th, 2014 at 6:25 AM ^

Even though I hah no problem with what he said - I actually laughed, as a matter of fact - I appreciate that he gave it further context do diffuse any controversy. That being said, it is a bit sad that he had to do that. I thought the humor was obvious, but it's a subjective thing, of course. Most importantly, no apology for it and a perfect response, I thought. 

gmoney41

October 9th, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^

Exactly, we live in such a overly sensitive PC world, when anything that you say gets completely overblown.  I laughed at his comment when he said it, and absolutely loved the fact that he didn't appologize.  Why should he appologize?  People really need to get thicker skin, and stop trying to make an obviously true statement into something controversial.  Everyone who has played the game at a high level knows what he said was true.

VectorVictor05

October 9th, 2014 at 11:42 AM ^

Wait, so you blame the guy that made the innocuous comment and not the people/person who gets all worked up over nothing because they're looking for something, anything, to get angry about?

You sound like helluva fun time to be around.

Trolling

October 9th, 2014 at 8:15 AM ^

So much of what I would typically say in regards to this situation falls too far into politics, so all I'll say is this:



Stauskas has always asserted himself on the court and this is why he continues to defy white stereotypes in terms of his style of play. It makes sense that he wouldn't shy away from saying what everyone else, regardless of race, is thinking.

RobM_24

October 9th, 2014 at 8:31 AM ^

Next thing you know people are going to say that white guys can't jump as high as black guys. ESPN better get a 30-for-30 crew assembled.

mich12fan

October 9th, 2014 at 8:32 AM ^

It's stories like this and the obsession over players (ie. Tebow, Favre, LeBron) that cause me to stay away from ESPN. Unfortunately, a 24 hr sports station needs to fill dead time with garbage like this.

bronxblue

October 9th, 2014 at 8:45 AM ^

Great response.  It is something that matters in the NBA; you listen to former white players and they all say it is part of the game, but it's not Nik is making it the core argument here.  

myblueheaven

October 9th, 2014 at 8:46 AM ^

I guess Nick didn't get the memo from Raven Symone that there is no color, there is no sexual orientation, just Americans. Players going at him because he's Canadian! I have no issue with his statement... mostly because it's true!!!

shawnducati

October 9th, 2014 at 8:58 AM ^

Used to pick me early in pick up games cuz I'm black but found out soon I was very average. So I get what he was saying as far as perceptions are concerned.

WolverineinSB

October 9th, 2014 at 9:51 AM ^

I have a friend I used to play pick up basketball with a lot and he was the worst player on the court. He was always picked first tho bc he was 6'5 and black. The look on the guys face who picked him when he saw him play was always hilarious.


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VectorVictor05

October 9th, 2014 at 8:59 AM ^

Moneyquote instead of moneyshot - 

"Some people may have a problem with it, some people may not, but if you've ever played the game of basketball, you understand that there's certain stereotypes and certain reputations that certain players have and based on that, people are going to play a certain way against you," Stauskas added.

This should end the "debate" over whether he should or shouldn't have made that comment.

JamieH

October 9th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^

of today's society is people trying to pretend that there aren't (IN GENERAL) differences between the races.  And not trying to get into politics, but I'm a rather liberal person. 

 

The problem with admitting that there ARE racial differences is that once you do, you should NEVER use that to then assume any one specific person is more or less capable than another at something strictly because of their race, which is the stereotyping that NIk is talking about.  But anyone who doesn't believe that it happens pretty much all the time is living in a dream world.

 

When it comes to sports like basketball and football, are their more elite black athletes than white ones?  Duh--look at NFL fields and NBA courts.  How many white CBs are there?  White RBs?  White WRs?   The representation of blacks on those teams, (especialy in NFL roles where athleticism is considered the primary skill), grossly outweights their representation in the US population as a whole.  And don't give me the environment argument--tons of white kids want to be pro athletes too.  Wating it doesn't make a damn bit of difference if you aren't born with a certain amount of talent/physical ability.  Environment surely plays some role, but it's not enough to account for the massive overrepresentation that we see.



 

Anyone who has played organized basketball or even follows basketball closely knows Nik is telling the truth.  Just because a lot of people won't say it out loud doesn't change that. 

 

 

 

LSA91

October 9th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^

Stauskas just said that players target him because they have the belief that white rookies are especially vulnerable.     He's basically saying that there are racists in the NBA, and not even saying whether those racists are themselves white, black or what.  Which  . . . duh.