National Basketball Association criticisms and controversies

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The National Basketball Association has faced a multitude of criticisms from both sports writers and fans.

Contents 1 Racial and cultural issues 1.1 Dress Code 2 Altercations 2.1 Pacers-Pistons brawl 2.2 Knicks-Nuggets brawl 2.3 Latrell Sprewell chokes coach 3 Age limit 4 No tolerance rule 5 New game ball 6 Referee gambling scandal 7 References

[edit] Racial and cultural issues

Many have criticized the NBA for embracing "Hip-hop culture". While some observers have argued that this criticism has more to do with race than hip-hop itself, it is a fact that the league is very much connected to the hip-hop generation. Rappers Nelly and Jay-Z have ownership stakes in NBA teams (the Charlotte Bobcats and New Jersey Nets respectively), and many artists have worn NBA throwback jerseys in music videos. In turn, the NBA plays rap and hip-hop in arenas during games, and ABC/ESPN uses the music during its coverage. Players in the NBA have tried rap or hip-hop themselves (Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, and notoriously, Ron Artest are some examples) and several also dress and act in ways that are in accordance with hip-hop culture (for example, the tattoos and jewellery worn by several players).

See also: National Basketball Association music

This has helped build the league's popularity among what some would call "urban" circles, while hurting its credibility with corporate, white, middle-class, suburban audiences. Since 1998, the NBA's television ratings have dropped considerably (some also attribute this is to Michael Jordan's retirement and the decline of the Chicago Bulls), and criticism of the league has mounted to the point where some columnists have freely referred to players in the league as 'thugs' in columns and referred to the league as 'violent'.

When the NBA proposed a dress code in October 2005, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said

“

I think it's important that the players take their end of it, get out of the prison garb and the thuggery aspect of basketball that has come along with hip-hop music[1] in the last seven or eight years.

”

Even on the night that legendary NBA head coach Red Auerbach died, Boston radio host Eddie Andelman, in an interview with ESPNEWS, made sure to note that the late Celtics coach would never have put up with the "thugs" and "bums" he (referring to Andelman) believed were in the league currently.^[2]

ESPN broadcaster Gary Thorne went as far as to say that the league was "quickly becoming the nation's most expensive gang, if not the most dangerous." in a column he wrote for the Bangor Daily News^[3].

Even more bold is this comment from a column in the Arizona Republic.

“

Maybe if you're a stone-cold playa with 50 Cent in the headphones and street cred in the back pocket, you're still feeling it, dawg. But purists don't recognize the league.

”

San Francisco Chronicle writer David Steele, who cited the preceding quote in an April 2004 article^[4], noted that the criticism:

“

...carries an undercurrent of bias that runs along racial, cultural and generational lines. ... Inevitably, a criticism of, say, a 75-66 game devolves into a commentary on tattoos, cornrows, marijuana use, stretch limos, rap music and unwed fatherhood. Even when the quality of play itself remains the topic, buzzwords that sound painfully familiar crop up: undisciplined, poor work ethic, bad fundamentals, unintelligent play, lack of character, out of control.

”

Some have argued that the criticism of the NBA is hypocritical, considering the relative lack of criticism of Major League Baseball or National Football League players. Quoted from Sports Illustrated's Kelly Dwyer and Jack McCallum respectively:

“

Fans/media/12-year old girls routinely go out of their way to denigrate these players over misdeeds both perceived and real, but these guys can’t hold a candle to the faux-redneck (prep boys trying to pass themselves off as salt of the earth types) baseball shtick, or the lovely world of professional football.[5]

”

“

The unassailable fact remains that the NBA is a predominantly African-American league (73%) with a more openly hip-hop culture. While blacks make up about 65% of NFL rosters, football has never been seen as an “urban” sport. Moreover, because there are so many NFL players, and their sport is so team-focused and they’re covered in padding, they maintain some anonymity. It’s easier to embrace felons — of all colors — hidden under helmets than tatted-up black men in plain view. ... Some NBA players, such as Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal, have been outspoken in their view that race is the major reason for the league’s negative image.[6]

”

While some columnists believe that the criticism of the league is based largely in racial and generational stereotypes and biases, others believe that the NBA put itself in such a position by not distancing itself from the darker aspects of hip-hop culture. Quoted from three prominent African American sportswriters.

“	[the NBA] thought they were getting Will Smith and LL Cool J. But now they've discovered the dark side of hip-hop has also infiltrated their game, with its 'bling-bling' ostentation, its unrepentant I-gotta-get-paid ruthlessness, its unregulated culture of posses, and the constant underlying threat of violence.[7]	”
—Bryan Burwell

“	You welcome in the music, you also get the misogyny and other themes of thug life that are admittedly the prerequisite values of the hip-hop culture. ... it is a life based on getting 'respect' at any cost, including going into the stands and administering a beat-down if somebody 'disrespects you.'[8]	”
—Michael Wilbon

“	Allen Iverson, Latrell Sprewell, Kobe Bryant, Dream Team failures, an embrace of all the negative aspects of the hip-hop culture and a horrid style of play have conspired to make the NBA easy to ignore.[9]	”
—Jason Whitlock

[edit] Dress Code

For more details on the NBA dress code, see NBA dress code.

Perhaps mainly because of criticism, the NBA instituted a dress code in 2005, banning all clothing associated with the hip-hop culture. Players were instructed not to wear jewellery, throwback jerseys, headphones, indoor sunglasses and other accessories, and instead were told to wear "business casual" clothing. The dress code, characterized by some as "clearly and unapologetically directed toward suppressing hip-hop culture"^[10], was instantly controversial and a topic on many sports radio talk shows for several days. Many players objected, most notably Allen Iverson, who has faced the brunt of most hip-hop related NBA criticism:

“

They're targeting guys who dress like me, guys who dress hip-hop. Put a murderer in a suit and he's still a murderer. It sends a bad message to kids.

”

Michael Wilbon disagreed. In a Washington Post article, he wrote:

“

The NBA, as it turns out, knows now that people don't want to pay $200 a night to see jail culture. If they can't see Magic and Michael, they want to see people who make the attempt to look something like Magic and Michael. This is why the league went from one extreme to the other, from hip-hop to forging a relationship with Matthew Dowd, chief campaign strategist for Bush-Cheney 2004.[11]

”

Baggy shorts, also a symbol of hip-hop culture, were banned by the league as well, which instituted a rule on the length of players' shorts while playing. Tights, which players started to wear under their shorts in the 2005-06 season (though not a symbol of hip-hop culture) were banned as well. No players were fined for dress code violations during the 2005-06 NBA season. The league has also attempted to severely distance itself from hip-hop since the Pacers-Pistons brawl; in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, country music stars Big and Rich performed at halftime, a move that was ridiculed by TNT analyst Charles Barkley. In addition, as noted later in this article, ABC Sports (after relying on hip-hop music early on) has used artists such as Rob Thomas and Tom Petty for the NBA Finals in recent years.

[edit] Altercations

[edit] Pacers-Pistons brawl

For more details on this topic, see Pacers-Pistons brawl.

After a massive altercation between Indiana Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans, the NBA came under severe criticism from the national and mainstream media. Commentators, and those familiar with the event outside the sports media, were divided over the issues of who should primarily be blamed for the incident. Anger and blame was placed on the players, at NBA Union Chief Billy Hunter, who protested the length of suspensions, ^[12], the fans who sparked the melee and the referees who didn't put a stop to it ^[13].

Many in the media viewed the brawl as a statement on the disconnect between primarily white fans and black players. USA Today's Ian O'Connor:

“

Commentators are examining the widening gulf between overwhelmingly black NBA teams and the white fans who follow them. It's healthy to ask tough questions about the uneasy state of race relations in sports and beyond; the more these issues are addressed in public forums, the better the chance of not having to examine them in the future... Sometimes we see race when we should simply see foolishness and hate. That's the product of living inside a sports culture where equal opportunity on the coaching, executive and ownership levels remains an elusive ideal.[14]

”

In the wake of the brawl, the NBA came under harsh scrutiny from some outlets. Noted conservative radio personality (and former ESPN NFL analyst) Rush Limbaugh said the brawl was "hip-hop culture on parade" and also added the statement that "NBA uniforms are now in gang colors. They are in gang styles." NBA commissioner David Stern, in a 2006 interview, made this comment about the brawl-related criticism:

“

When Ron Artest went into the stands, it was, 'All those players are …' ... And I know for a fact that they're not all the same, so I wonder why they're so easily generalized. Maybe we're not doing as good of a job as we should be doing, or maybe there's something else at work.[15]

”

[edit] Knicks-Nuggets brawl

For more details on this topic, see Knicks-Nuggets brawl.

The Knicks-Nuggets brawl was an on-court altercation at a National Basketball Association game between the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden, New York, on December 16, 2006. This altercation was the most penalized on-court fight since the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl of November 19, 2004.

All ten players on the court at the time of the altercation were ejected, and seven players total were suspended. Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets was suspended for 15 games, while J.R. Smith and Nate Robinson were suspended for 10 games each. Neither coach was suspended; still, some believed that New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas should have been suspended for allegedly telling his players to foul any Nuggets player who attempted a dunk or layup. NBA Commissioner David Stern received criticism for not including Thomas in the suspensions [1]. Some viewed Stern's leniency as evidence of a special relationship with Thomas. ^{[16] [17]}

Thomas was accused of trying to bring back the mentality of the late-1980s Detroit Pistons, who were known for their physical play.^[18] Various columnists and observers found Thomas' actions inappropriate; before the fight, Thomas was seen warning Anthony not to go into the lane. ESPN analyst and former NBA player Greg Anthony stated that "I never had a coach say that to an opponent ... I've had a coach say, do a better job protecting our territory. That's a little different."^[19]

The fight brought a large amount of media attention, and was a topic on mainstream news broadcasts, including World News with Charles Gibson^[20]. Several columnists claimed that the NBA had been set back several years, and many used the fight as evidence of the league being a haven for thugs.

“

There are no real rules now, just thugs who have turned the league into something which few fans can relate. These guys believe they can get away with anything — and the league lets them. ... It's all just a reminder of what a joke the NBA has become — and what has been lost in professional basketball in the last 25 years. ... Dignity, sportsmanship... and accurate long-range shooting, It's all history in the NBA.[21]

”

“

Team, fans and pride are the last things on the minds of these overpaid thugs we dub superstars. ... I miss the time when the NBA was entertaining for all the right reasons. When an around-the-world dunk was what you watched and waited for, not the moments in which you might have to shade your children's eyes. It was the time before the NBA needed a mandatory dress code, because players had enough pride to dress more like professionals and less like 50 Cent.[22]

”

New York Knicks guard Steve Francis noted that the media reaction to the fight and the suspensions itself were "racially motivated".^[23] Francis argued that Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League had fights worse or equal to the Knicks/Nuggets altercation and rarely faced the type of media attention and scrutiny that the NBA received. Several columnists agreed, including Sam Smith (who called the coverage "racist and nonsense" in a piece)^[24], J.A. Adande and David Aldridge. Adande and Aldridge, respectively:

“	Somehow NFL players have received the status normally reserved for white people in America: the right to be judged individually, not collectively. After Timothy McVeigh blew up that building in Oklahoma City, security guards didn't cast a suspicious eye on every white man driving past a federal building. But ask any person of Middle Eastern descent how hard it was for them to board an airplane after Sept. 11. ... The same double standard goes for the NFL. At most, a misdeed will be grouped by a team, such as the rash of arrests of those on the Cincinnati Bengals' roster. But it's rare to see the leap from "that guy" to "those thugs" in "that league," which is what happens when an NBA player does something dumb.[25]	”
—J.A. Adande, Los Angeles Times

“	The NFL had a starting defensive lineman be deactivated after police raided his home and found six unregistered guns in his house. This was a day before said defensive lineman's bodyguard was shot and killed outside a Chicago nightclub, with said defensive lineman standing nearby. ... And one of the NFL's biggest stars, on one of its signature franchises, spit in the face of an opponent who was "bugging" him. Not beating him with a pipe. Not heisting his car. "Bugging" him. That player was fined $35,000 by the league Monday, yet I heard no cable television show or talk radio host wonder whether this meant the NFL was out of control.[26]	”
—David Aldridge, TNT

[edit] Latrell Sprewell chokes coach

In 1997, Latrell Sprewell was involved in arguably the most infamous incident in the NBA prior to the Pacers-Pistons brawl seven years later.

During a contentious practice, then-Golden State Warrior Sprewell was involved in an altercation with head coach P.J. Carlesimo which eventually ended up in him choking his coach and threatening to kill him.

The incident brought mainstream attention, but not quite the amount of criticism of the league as a whole as later controversies would. While some wondered if Sprewell's actions were indicative of a growing trend in the league, others tempered that belief with the idea that it was an isolated incident. Then active player Buck Williams said this on PBS:

“

Now it's a different way. It's a different player. And I think what's happening, you know, in our environment, in our society, is sort of--it just reflects what's happening in NBA. I mean, a lot of the players are young and sort of misunderstood. And it takes a very special coach, and it takes quite an understanding organization to try to deal with the new athlete.[27]

”

Sprewell would have his image redeemed somewhat after a run to the NBA Finals with the New York Knicks in 1999. However, after a contentious battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves over his salary in 2004, his image took another hit.

[edit] Age limit

In 2005, the NBA was in the midst of creating a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the main topics of the deal was the league's desire to create a new age-limit for players to enter the NBA Draft.

The idea of an age-limit had been talked about for several years, after the entrance into the league of several high-school players. While several players who have entered the league out of high school have become successes (LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, and decades ago, Moses Malone), others have been relative failures (for example, Ndudi Ebi or James Lang). Those in favor of an age-limit made the argument that players entering the league out of high school did not know the fundamentals of playing professional basketball and also were not mature enough to handle playing in the NBA.

“	Well, they are physically mature enough to be part of the NBA, and they are great young players. But as you frame the issue, the question is whether a couple of years more of seasoning would increase their maturity, their skills, their collegiate programs and ultimately what it could do for sending messages to kids who are practicing their skills who should think about getting an education rather than coming right to [the] NBA.[28]	”
—NBA commissioner David Stern in a 2001 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Proponents of the age-limit included Michael Wilbon, who argued that it was important for young players to get an education.^[29] Wilbon's belief, while held by many, has also been referred to as "simplistic" and "[reflective] not just [of] hypocrisy but a reimagination of reality as well"^[30]. Michael Mccann of the Mississippi College School of Law made this argument:

“

In stark contrast to popular myth, this Article finds that players drafted straight out of high school are not only likely to do well in the NBA, but are likely to become better players than any other age group entering the league. ... Beyond excellence in performance, high school players can also earn substantially more over the course of their NBA careers ... players who bypass college may earn as much as $100 million more over the course of their careers than had they earned a college diploma.[31]

”

Greg Anthony was one prominent NBA personality against the age-limit. Anthony's belief was that people should be able to make their own decisions about whether or not to enter the league, and that (quoting an article and not Anthony himself) "players from inner-city high schools aren't academically qualified for college because of the lower quality of education compared to their suburban counterparts"^[32] This led him into conflict with Wilbon and more notably with colleague Stephen A. Smith. On an April 2005 edition of NBA Shootaround, Anthony and Smith got into a heated debate about the age-limit.^[33] This came only days after Anthony was the primary interviewer in a discussion with Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal.

The interview was described by Sports Illustrated writer Mark Bechtel as "...Greg Anthony putting words in O'Neal's mouth then saying something along the lines of, "Is that what you meant?" And then O'Neal would say, "Exactly."^[34] It came on the heels of O'Neal discussing the age-limit in the context of race, and as he was in the midst of growing media attention and criticism.

“

As a black guy, you kind of think [race is] the reason why it's coming up. You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it's unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18, why can't you play basketball for 48 minutes and then go home? ... In the last two or three years, the Rookie of the Year has been a high school player. There were seven high school players in the All-Star game, so why we even talking [about] an age limit?[35]

”

As noted in a PopMatters.com article by David Leonard, O'Neal was roundly attacked for his opinion, with many accusing him of playing the race card and using his prior actions in the brawl as a reason to dismiss his claims.

With the agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, the age-limit was put into place. Any person attempting to enter the NBA Draft must wait until he is at least nineteen years old, and until the graduation of his high school class.

[edit] No tolerance rule

At the start of the 2006-07 NBA season, the NBA instituted a new rule regarding in-game player complaints. The "no tolerance rule", as it was referred to by players and the media, allowed referees to call technical fouls when players complained too vehemently about calls.

The season started with a spike in the number of technical fouls and ejections. There were "one-hundred-four technicals and seven ejections in the first fifty-one games," while "only seven games of the first fifty-one games thus far have had no technical fouls".^[36] Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, who would later be suspended for his participation in a fight later that year, was suspended on opening night of the season after two technical fouls.

“

Although Anthony wasn't looking at or speaking to referee Ted Washington, he received a second technical with the Nuggets behind by two points in the third quarter. He got the "T" for throwing his headband to the floor after being called for his fourth foul.[37]

”

Some observers viewed the rule as unfair and taking the passion out of the game; others believed that it only served to take pressure off of referees who made bad calls.

“	I don't like it. Basketball is an emotional game; guys are always going to express their thoughts about calls. ... There are times you are going to disagree. You shouldn't get a "T" for nit-picky things.[38]	”
—Corliss Williamson, Sacramento Kings

“	Over-the-top complaints and gestures should certainly be penalized, but the rule goes too far. Does David Stern believe that disallowing the players' protests will fool fans into accepting the infallibility of the refs?[39]	”
—Charley Rosen, FOX Sports

Others agreed with the rule, viewing it as a much needed policy to cut down on the "whining" by players in the league.

“	Nobody likes the scowling, the arm-waving, the stomping and ball-slamming, certainly not after a meaningless call in the second quarter of some game in mid-November. And such ridiculousness was one reason why too many consumers perceived NBA players as self-absorbed, overbearing, churlish and out of touch. ... Too many are out of touch with the people who pay the freight. Who pays to come to the arena to see this demonstrative complaining? Nobody. The notion some players have put forth, that the NBA is trying to take the emotion from the game, is so preposterous it's insulting.[40]	”
—Michael Wilbon, Washington Post

After the initial spike at the start of the season, the amount of technical fouls and ejections declined significantly towards the middle of the year. Several players, including Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, were still ejected on technical fouls; Iverson's ejection came during his first game against his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, and he was later fined by the league for claiming that referee Steve Javie ejected him on the basis of a feud the two supposedly had.^[41]

[edit] New game ball

After the 2005-06 season, David Stern announced that the league would use a new microfiber ball for the 2006-07 season. The microfiber ball replaced the previously used leather balls. The league claimed the new ball would provide better grip than the leather counterparts, especially when wet from player's sweat. Still the majority of players (notably Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash) expressed dislike for the new ball, saying among other things that it became slippery when wet, bounced awkwardly and gave players cuts.^[42][43][44]

The largest complaint came from the fact that players had not been consulted before the new ball was put into play. The NBA Players Association filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the league because of that fact^[45], subsequently dropping it after the league announced that it would revert back to the leather balls starting on January 1, 2007. In a humorous move, the Washington Wizards played a video on the Verizon Center scoreboard welcoming back the "new old ball".^[46][47] Despite complaints, scoring and field goal percentage went up while the microfiber ball was used.^[48] Some individual players, however, including Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon and Seattle Supersonics guard Ray Allen, saw their usually high three-point shooting percentages decline.^[49]

A more rigorous study found that while shooting percentages did in fact increase, so did turnover rates.^[50]

In the aftermath, Commissioner Stern now says that players will have more input on future decisions.^[51]

[edit] Referee gambling scandal

On July 20, 2007, it was reported that the FBI are investigating a referee, Tim Donaghy, for gambling on NBA games.

[edit] References

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