Latest News, NBA / Sep 23, 2011 / 12:00 pm

Unacceptable Blackness: The NBA Lockout As A White-Collar Race War

By

LeBron James

LeBron James (photo. David Alvarez)

What are we really fighting about?

For the scarred veterans of countless throw-downs with significant others, it is the grand question that hovers over each petty incident—the subtitles that clarify the curse words. And every now and then, the more mature versions of ourselves can diffuse a hostile situation by asking that question.

But sometimes it only makes things worse.

The NBA lockout has been the polished version of a lover’s quarrel. Finances, commitment and respect guide the undercurrent of deep-seeded issues between players and owners that have boiled over into a stalemate that must be settled, because there is a Collective Bargaining Agreement that needs to be signed before another minute of NBA basketball is played.

But asking that vital question — What are we really fighting about? – would not diffuse this situation. In this case, it may actually bring to the surface answers that are more disturbing than the issues we’re willing to talk about right now.

The root of the lockout is, of course, money. But at the root of those money issues is power. And at the root of the power dynamic is race.

How could it not be, when 95 percent of the league’s owners are White and 85 percent of the players are Black?

Offended as the basketball world may have been by Brian Cardinal’s $35 million contract or Nick Collison’s $13.2 million salary last season, I knew the NBA was inevitably headed for a lockout when one of the few men who would’ve been justified in signing an out-of-the-stratosphere deal — LeBron James — actually took less money than expected to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat.

It wasn’t because LeBron’s addition would likely turn the Heat into a juggernaut. History has shown us that the NBA doesn’t exactly suffer when a small number of dominant franchises hoard championships.

The red flag in LeBron’s decision was that it represented a new breed of NBA player: One that is too smart, too powerful and too rich for the league to control.

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  • dlight

    @50 yes unless the give up their perks too!

    I have not read Dime in awhile, off an on since AB left to my surprise he dropped this well written piece. Chicagorilla on point! If racism didn’t exist we wouldn’t be in an Depression by definition, media is controlled by those who want consumers to keep spending regardless if they have it to spend. Those who caused this economic mess were slapped on the wrist and are back in power, look them up. If the tea party was black the would have a bounty on their heads.

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    dlight – Economic depression is CAUSED by racism, “by definition”? Ok…please go back to not visiting the site.

  • http://www.wtf.com Chicagorilla

    @2cents

    If that were true (NBA owners weren’t making money) then you and the supporters of the owners have a point. But that is not true. Check this article by a writer at SLAM (no disrespect @DIME lol)
    http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/lockout-2011/2011/09/oh-these-poor-billionaire-owners/
    The wrtier points out the coorelation between the NBA owners and the complaining billionaires across the country. It also proves the most of the owners are LYING or BENDING THE TRUTH about their profits from the NBA.

    The one thing i will not do is believe a billionaire when they are complaining about money. Its not easy to form an opinion on something like this, because you have both sides coming at you with numbers some true, but most of them cooked. But after being in the US military where they pretty much give it to you head on, and now working as a civillian, where they pretty much screw you every chance they get. I believe none of what i hear and half of what i see.

    unrelated side note: I just saw that Bill Gates and his wife has pledged to give away 90% of their earnings. 90%!!!!!! of their earnings! that is amazing.

  • 2 cents

    Hey @chicagorilla – really appreciate your well thought out posts, but I think the one thing missing here is looking at the billionaires in context. So what if they are worth billions, this is money they have earned OUTSIDE of the NBA.

    They own the franchise and they are the “boss”, so to speak. If you have a gripe about the owners crying poor, then look at the fact that their company (read: NBA franchise) is making a loss. If this is true, then why should they continue running it?

    The model is simply broken and this is not a class nor a race issue, this is a business. And isn’t that what all the players always end their sentences with when they make a decision as to which team they will sign with?????

  • http://www.wtf.com Chicagorilla

    @2cents

    I guess what im saying is, I don’t believe the Owners are not making money. I have a hard time believing that if they were losing money, these guys who made Billions by being smart as hell or putting people around them who are smart as hell, they would keep pumping money into something that is producing profits.

    Understand that many of the owners bought their teams for a very low amount years ago. The teams have since increased their value by say…300%. During that time, the owners didn’t always share those profits with the players (see Scottie Pippen and why he left the Bulls).

    I don’t think the owners should be doing some sort of charity and giving away all their earnings. I understand they should recieve a profit and i believe they do. The issue is that they want MORE of a profit than they are already getting because they see other companies doing the same thing.

    Take CISCO for instance. They lay off thousands of employees to increase profits. They weren’t going broke, they just wanted more money to spend on hookers and yatchs.

    Here is a quote from the article i posted from the writer at slam that i believe sums it up.

    “The rich have gone from being grateful for what they have to pushing for everything they can get. They have mastered the arts of whining and predation, without regard to logic or shame. In the end, this is the lesson of the NBA lockout.” – Dave Zinn of Slam Magazine

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    The rich, both in America and abroad, are the problem.

  • 2 cents

    #55 and #56 – if the rich are the problem, then are you also pointing the fingers at the rich players? MJ is a billionaire and LBJ is well on his way. If you are going to say the rich are the problem, then look no further than the players demanding more and more, hence the reason teams are not making as much profit.

    @Chicagorilla. If you are going to point out owners who bought the teams for very little years ago, then also consider the salaries the players had years ago. The owners didn’t also have all the expenses that go with a modern NBA team (like first class travel, 5 star restaurants, player gyms, perks, etc).

    I hate corporate greed as much as the next person, but the NBPA is just as greedy as the owners. Difference is that the owners OWN the team, the players THINK they own the team.

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    @2cents – you’re not wrong

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