White basketball player is basically Jesus

[gollygee]

So, sports fans, tell me. Are white players in sports treated as exceptional even when they aren't exceptional when compared to the other players? Does this sports writer have a point?

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/cbs-white-basketball-player-is-basically-jesus.html?mid=rss

But what makes Craft so admirable? Is his degree in nutrition so much more impressive than any other players' academic achievements? Does he display special poise and smarts on the court? Not really: He makes some pretty bad decisions, like a horrendous intentional foul with two-and-a-half minutes left. He's a solid player overall.

So you have to ask what about Craft makes him the vessel for such unusual admiration. The answer is pretty clear.

And here's another piece about a white player being seen as exceptional when he really isn't when compared to the other players:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/what-white-people-dont-see-watching-basketball.html

The thing is, there is a player on the team this year who’s almost exactly like Zach Novak. His name is Jordan Morgan. In high school, he was pudgy, slow, and small. No major conference programs except Michigan offered him a scholarship. But he physically transformed himself and has become, like Novak, an amazing overachiever. As a six-foot-seven center, he’s almost as undersize for his position as Novak is. He won’t shoot unless he’s within a couple feet of the basket, and often not even then, because opposing players can often swat away his shot attempts. Instead he spends most of every offensive possession throwing his body around the court, setting screen after screen to open up shots for his teammates.

He uses leverage, smarts, and unrelenting effort to gain every inch of advantage fighting against opposing centers. Morgan is a fifth-year senior who already graduated with a degree in engineering, and is studying for a master’s degree in manufacturing engineering.

But the announcers don’t talk about this stuff even one-tenth as often as they did Novak. And when they do, they don’t use terms like “gritty,” “unselfish,” “scrappy,” and “smart.” My explanation is that it’s because he looks like this:

[CBGLuthier]

1. 100 years later they are still looking for The Great White Hope

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Jeffries


Six years after retiring, Jeffries made a comeback on July 4, 1910 at Reno, Nevada in a match against champion Jack Johnson, who had won the Heavyweight Championship by defeating Tommy Burns at Rushcutters Bay in Australia in 1908.
The bout, which was promoted and refereed by legendary fight promoter Tex Rickard, and became known as "The Fight of the Century" and was also known colloquially as "The Fight of the Giants", soon became a symbolic battleground of the races. The white media, eager for a "GREAT WHITE HOPE", found a champion for their racial pride in Jeffries. Jack London is quoted as saying, "Jim Jeffries must emerge from his alfalfa farm and remove the golden smile from Jack Johnson's face."

[Scuba]

2. Stauskas is a good player, but I was shocked when he was picked as B1G player of the year.

I watched a LOT of B1G hoops this year, and Adreian Payne was my pick. Didn't even make first team.

Watch. Next year Sam Decker will be the Great White Hope. Nice player, but not the best in the conference.

[jsr]

3. Same ol' every year

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. That can work both ways in basketball, really.

There's a commonly encountered assumption that a white player will have to "make up for" a relative lack of athleticism compared to a black player...that he or she won't have the speed or jumping ability. It's a racist assumption that's unfair to both black and white players.

[Cracklin Charlie]

5. There may be something to the search for the Great White Hope

But I think the media just is always looking for a few "stars" they can use to hype up the excitement for the big tournament. Basketball is a great team game, but at tournament time, they like to key on a few guys (not always white), who are expected to make big contributions to the excitement of the event. It doesn't bother me at all.

With regard to player of the year and such...the player of the year in my favorite conference (Big 12) wasn't really the best player, but he was a great player, teammate, and team leader. He also was a fourth year senior with a great academic record. I was okay with that player of the year award.

I watch a lot of college basketball. There's a kid on my team (Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!) who gets so much media attention that he's bound to be sick of himself. He's not white, and he's Canadian!

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!!!

[BlueStreak]

6. Well, that cuts both ways

For decades, ESPN has been celebrating the slam dunk as if it were the culmination of great strategy and great execution. And about 99% of the dunks you see on their coverage are from black guys (who tend to be the best and the flashiest at this particular skill). They have proclaimed "King James" to be the best basketball player ever, even though he actually is middle of the pack when compared to the best who have played the game (which includes both black and white players).

The media is always looking for a narrative. "Young black guy who works hard to achieve success in basketball" just isn't an attractive story line. Noe if he would throw down on people more often -- then we'd have a story.