Listen Up NBA Ballers

Great column from Jason Whitlock (who is black) in yesterday's Kansas City Star:

NBA commissioner David Stern sent a message to his players Sunday.

By issuing three of the harshest penalties in league history, Stern let his players know that the league will aggressively try to clean up its image problem.

Stern had no choice. TV ratings for the league have been steadily falling since Michael Jordan's heyday. By decimating the Pacers and publicly acknowledging that there has been a lowering of expectations in terms of player (and fan) behavior, Stern made it clear he's not in denial about the NBA's troubles.

But in this column, I am calling on my peers in the media to level with NBA players that may be in denial (and all professional athletes) and tell them what's really going on.

The people paying the bills don't like the product, don't like the attitude, don't like the showboating and don't like the flamboyance. The NBA, which relies heavily on African-American players, is at the forefront of fan backlash. Stern realizes this, and that's why, spurred on by the Detroit brawl, he is reacting decisively.

We're witnessing a clash of cultures. A predominately white fan base is rejecting a predominately black style of play and sportsmanship.

Who is on the right side of this argument? The group that is always right in a capitalistic society. The customer. A good businessman caters to his audience.

Stern's players must bow to the desires of their fan base.

We, black people, begged for integration. We demanded the right to play in the major leagues, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL. As long as the customer base is white, the standard for appropriate sportsmanship, style of play and appearance should be set by white people. This is fair, particularly when the athletes/employees earn millions of dollars and have the freedom to do whatever, and I mean whatever, they want when they're not playing or practicing.

If African-American players are unwilling to accept this reality, NBA owners will speed up the internationalization of their team's rosters. Many African-American players with NBA-quality skill will soon find themselves circling the country playing basketball with Hot Sauce and the And 1 Tour while Yao Nowitzki collects a $10 million NBA check.

The black players will have no one to blame but themselves.