Dying Breed

Larry Bird

One of the baddest players that I've ever seen play in the NBA.

Period!

In the 80s, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were credited by many for saving the NBA. Bird was a 3 time NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics. He was a 3 time league MVP. He was voted to the NBA All Star game 12 times during his career. To say that Bird was great is a huge understatement.

Bird was white

That never mattered to me. Bird could ball. He was type of dude who you wanted on your team. He was deadly shooter who was like an assasin. I remember when I was growing up, people would say that Bird was black. The assertion was that Bird had to be black because no white guy could dominate in a league that was 70% black. Bird was Bird. There will never be another Bird. And that has nothing to do with his race.

Yesterday, I watched the Outside the Lines program on ESPN. The topic was about how there are so few white American players in the NBA. The numbers are at an all time low. Black players make up nearly 72% of the NBA. Foreign players make up 18%. And only 9% of the NBA are made up by white players. They intereviewed former NBA executive and Hall of Famer Jerry West and asked him where were the white players. West, who is white, said that there are a lot of white players who simply aren't athletic enough to make it in the NBA.

Is that natural? I dont think so.

Where are the white players? Why aren't they in the NBA? What do YOU think?