LeBatard's Blunder

Interesting note I picked up from PFT today, especially considering it was regarding NCAA/NBA basketball and not the NFL. It was regarding comments made between ESPN's Jay Bilas and Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald on the subject of race in the NBA Draft.

If you read the papers frequently, you probably know Dan is one of the more opinionated writers in the country. He often takes the side of the athlete, imploring the readers to understand the athlete's point of view when faced with issues of celebrity misconduct and contract negotiations. I appreciate his style because it is refreshing; most sportswriters are quick to jump the gun and bemoan professional athletes from their pulpits. I despise that kind of journalism.

However, Dan's opinions are often very controversial. The race card is played frequently, despite the increasing lack of respect for that argument in America today. The comments in question were regarding Tyler Hansborough and his draft status. Le Batard argued that because he is white, and America typically doesn't produce elite white basketball players, Tyler will slip on draft board. Bilas was taken aback and disagreed vehemently enough that he flat out called it "stupid".

It's not often you see that kind of argument between guests on a radio show and their hosts. But it doesn't surprise me that this sort of issue provoked such a reaction. We are living in a PC world, yes, but Le Batard often stretches the boundaries of political correctness when he feels he speaks the truth. In this case, he is right in that American white players aren't exactly lighting it up in the NBA, so his argument is somewhat valid. It doesn't necessarily have to apply to Tyler, but it remains pretty accurate.

Of course, there are plenty of white players from other nations who are successful, so an argument singling out a race as being inferior at basketball might not hold water. The key here is that Dan said "American". Regardless, it's a slippery slope. It's too hard to pigeonhole guys just because of their race. Then again, if a trend shows one thing, then making the argument based on that trend is usually considered a valid process of reasoning. In this case, you'd need more evidence than "lack of good white players" to go out on a limb and say GMs will stay away from Tyler. Then it becomes more of an assumption that Dan isn't quite qualified to make.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting issue and thought I might bring it up to see what you guys think. I know Le Batard isn't liked (or even respected) by most sports fans, but I do respect his opinions.