By Walter L. Hilliard III –
Nothing gets as close to the truth like sports. No, sports is not reality or “truth personified,” but it can be pretty damn close when it comes to the rawness, the true grit of performance, of merit. And let’s let’s not forget that in sports the cream often — in comparison to other areas — rises to the top, Black, White, or otherwise, but not always.
Enter NY Knick’s team President Phil Jackson of Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls championship fame, the man who rode the coattails of a couple of the greatest players in history of the NBA, including Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan — Jordan being the greatest player, ever.
But that was then, and this is now.
Now the new star on the Knicks Block is Carmelo Anthony and Jackson is the team president, and not a head coach. And Jackson has given Anthony his “Nigger Wakeup Call,” well, semi-“Nigger Treatment Wakeup Up Call” because Melo’s from the Baltimore area hood, he’s been an activist or protester, and he’s been one of the very, very, very, very few athletes who has dared to even mention the word racism. In fact, he even got his buddies – LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Dwayne Wade – to open the Espy’s and “lightly” bring attention, although somewhat indirectly, the epidemic of police shooting Black men. And Melo’s often been derided by the mainstream sports media over the years because he’s not a stereotypical, happy-go-lucky, always-smiling-Black athlete like Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal. And because the Knicks had a bad year, White Knick fans couldn’t wait to get an “in” to turn on Melo and treat him like the high-priced, defiant slave he is, even though he’s always gone out of his way to embrace NY City and its rabid media.
And look at the thanks he gets . . . ?
So, just in case you haven’t been watching the circus in NY, again, Jackson has been giving the Knicks Black perennial all-star Carmelo Anthony the Nigger Treatment. And, by the way, just in case you don’t know, The Nigger Treatment is the overt or subtle racism saved for Black people to let them know that no matter how rich or poor, famous or infamous, educated or uneducated they are in everyday life – “You’re still just a Nigger.” Even Oprah discovered she wasn’t above the Nigger Treatment when a White female clerk in a Swiss boutique refused to sell her a $38,000 bag. And the owner had the nerve to come out and say the store clerk, the hussy, actually, did the right thing. That’s White Supremacy, cooperation, whether you’re the White folks directly involved in an incident or not.
However, Jackson has a history of racist behavior, previously referring to superstar LeBron James right hand man, Maverick Carter, and his hardworking associates, as a “posse.” I’ve never heard a White athlete’s friends called a posse – never. The word “posse,” in this case, is a racist terminology saved for the Black friends of Black athletes. After hearing Jackson’s comments, Carter tweeted: “All the hard work, effort and achievement and ‘@PhhilJackson11,’ Jakson’s,'” Twitter handle, “still calls us a ‘posse,’ every step you take they remind you, you ghetto.” Just reflect back to how the racist Philadelphia and national sports media used to refer to former Philadelphia 76er superstar Allen Iverson’s friends as a “posse.” The sports media also used to frequently mock Iverson, using so called Black slang and making other racist references.
Despite Wall Street banks robbing Americans blind, helped by politicians, most of whom were former businessmen (and vice versa, a process called the “transplanting of officials”), what are the types of things mainstream Americans frequently talk about? Things like Welfare Queens, which means “Black Welfare Queens.” When the cops show up and there’s a squabble between Blacks and Whites, who do they blame, wrestle to the ground, handcuff, and haul off to jail? Black people. Who did the Tea Party want to take their country back from? Black people, initially, then Latinos were forced to join the party. And even when our children go to the store for skittles and an iced tea and end up being shot through the heart by predators with guns, like in the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman fiasco, who did the White female jurors blame? The Black kid. So Black people always get blamed, even rich Black professional basketball players like Melo.
But I digress.
So Knick fans – uhhhh, yeah, the rich White fans who can afford the expensive tickets (a 2017 NY Daily News article said a NY resident has to work 14.3 hours to pay for a Knick game, which includes three tickets, food, drinks and parking, the most expensive in the NBA) – had found it appropriate to boo Melo this past season, especially whenever he missed a couple of shots. However, he averaged about 23 points a game, six rebounds, hit the open man frequently, and “got buckets” when the game was on the line and everyone else on the team was running from the ball. Yes, boos were the thanks Melo received this past year. In fact, when Melo hit a shot in the final seconds to win one particular game, the fans cheered but Melo defiantly shook his head no, like, “No, don’t cheer now when you were just booing me a second ago.”
I believe one of the reasons Melo was booed was because booed was because the fans and tea have a rising White superstar, Kristaps Porzingis, their future savior, their Great White Hope, or Hype, in a sport that’s 75 percent Black.
All these poodle-walking, Starbuck’s-loving, Adam-Levine worshiping Bohos needed was an opening, a tired Melo coming off an Olympic bid in which he lead the Americans to a Gold Medal. No, Melo isn’t a great defender – but neither is Porzingis, and Porzingis has yet to accomplish even an inkling of what Melo has. In fact, Melo raised hell during one game when the team went to Porzingis for a last-second shot after calling a timeout, a situation in which Pszorsings shot an air-ball, yes, missing the entire rim. And Porzingis defense is as bad as Melo’s, with the exception of his being able to block shots whenever he decides to challenge his man – and it doesn’t hurt that he’s 7’3”. But, then again, Melo gets more steals.
Okay, so you still may not be convinced that Melo being booed is all about racism? You see, I’ve noticed over the years that the predominantly White sports media (and the media, in general, even national news, covers the same stories and even goes to commercial breaks at practically the same time) and it’s rabid fans operate like clones and have a pack mentality. In other words, once mainstream America, lead by its mainstream media, hates a Black person, be it O.J., Ray Rice, R. Kelly, Floyd Mayweather, or whomever, they all hate him. And the Sports Media Haters – especially those like Colin Cowherd – all make the same hateful points around the clock, show after show, channel after channel, medium after medium (radio sports talk, ESPN on TV, and TV shows like Around the Horn). I’m sure this also has to do with the fact that there are only a few media companies/conglomerates, and none being Black-owned, and it just goes to show the dangers of our narrow-minded American corporate media. We’re really no different than Russia’s state-run media, really. But you can at least give the Russians credit for not proliferating Hollyweird-type filth to their children. Huh? How ’bout, dat?!
So, back to the NY Knicks:
Jackson actually got the “let’s bash Melo” ball rolling by letting it be known that Melo’s a “ball stopper” on the court – who refuses to pass to teammates. Jackson is also still trying to trade Melo for “pennies on the dollar,” totally disrespecting him, saying things that shouldn’t be said at all or said only behind closed doors among team officials and Melo, himself. Yes, Jackson wanted to humiliate Melo, despite his years of service for the Knicks.
And another question is why would James Dolan, the much maligned owner of the Knicks, allow Jackson to humiliate Melo, publicly?
And then I woke up: “Oh, Dolan’s rich and White, too.”
Dolan’s practicing the sports version of the Black Codes, Jim Crow, and the rules by which you are to treat supposedly freed Black slaves, letting them know that you’re still Black and you will get the Nigger Treatment, when circumstances permit.
My advice to Melo – stay and play for your team and tell Jackson and Dolan to “got to h##@,” because you have a no-trade clause. Only the great LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzk have a full no-trade clause and can dictate where they go or simply stay where they’re at. Yup, Melo should let Jackson and Dolan waddle in their own racist misery.
Word!!!!
