Interesting article about Jimmer, Doug Williams, and Racial Stereotyping

[Tetsujin]

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=oconnor_ian&id=6699163

I did find it hilarious that nearly every single analysis of him (a) compared him to nearly exclusively white people, and (b) expressed how surprisingly athletic he was (because he's white?).

 

[jcwkings]

i think hes going to suprise people, like steve nash his insane range will give teams fits with pick and rolls, hes gonna get tons of layups. a poor mans steve nash(poor mans being courtvision and passing) is not out of the question.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

I was noticing that too. If i had a penny for every time I saw Jimmer compared to Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick I'd be like Kramer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eeaT_8e6Ak

 

[Vlade4GM]

I think there is definitely a racial component to a lot of comparisons (and that goes both ways), but as far as extensive scouting reports go from real scouts, I don't see much stereotyping. But on the other hand, I think we all have our own racial stereotypes to a degree, whether we're conscious of it or not, it's just apart of how are brains work.

 

[Arco Arena]

Jan Vesely is considered by most scouts as an athletic freak, not only is he white but he's a euro. Many news organizations are quick to jump on the "that's racist!" headline because it's controversial (more clicks!) and it gives another reason to write a Jimmer article (much more clicks!).

I think the bigger issue is how scouts view a player as being athletic. Seems to me it just depends if they can perform rim shattering dunks. I assure you if Jimmer was throwing down tomahawk jams, there would be no questions of his athleticism.

 

[Aenadin]

Jimmer's going to light it up... the moment he proves these stereotyping experts wrong There's going to be a huge drop in Crow population

 

[Anthony1]

Jimmer is the newest version of the "Great White Hope".

 

[rainmaker]

There is definitely and underlying racial tone in sports. There is one example which happens frequently, which bothers me the most.

How many times have you seen a black athlete interviewed, and after the interview the analysts say, "wow, he's incredibly well spoken". Have you ever heard anyone say that about a white athlete, ever? I haven't. NBA, NFL, MLB, it's all the same. I heard a few times leading up to the draft, "Kyrie Irving is not only a great player, but he's intelligent and very well spoken", after an interview.

To be clear, I'm white, and notice it far too frequently.

 

[est.1999]

How's that saying go? Blacks are well spoken and whites are...? Can't remember.

 

[Hoovtrain]

I was noticing that too. If i had a penny for every time I saw Jimmer compared to Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick I'd be like Kramer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eeaT_8e6Ak

Steinbrenner sure loved his calzones.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

There is definitely and underlying racial tone in sports. There is one example which happens frequently, which bothers me the most.

How many times have you seen a black athlete interviewed, and after the interview the analysts say, "wow, he's incredibly well spoken". Have you ever heard anyone say that about a white athlete, ever? I haven't. NBA, NFL, MLB, it's all the same. I heard a few times leading up to the draft, "Kyrie Irving is not only a great player, but he's intelligent and very well spoken", after an interview.

To be clear, I'm white, and notice it far too frequently.

Actually a caller to Grant's show said that exact thing about Jimmer today after he was on Grant's show.

 

[swisshh]

Jan Vesely is considered by most scouts as an athletic freak, not only is he white but he's a euro. Many news organizations are quick to jump on the "that's racist!" headline because it's controversial (more clicks!) and it gives another reason to write a Jimmer article (much more clicks!).

I think the bigger issue is how scouts view a player as being athletic. Seems to me it just depends if they can perform rim shattering dunks. I assure you if Jimmer was throwing down tomahawk jams, there would be no questions of his athleticism.

Vesely's athleticism was described as surprising, and I even heard someone (maybe Ford?) say he was "not a typical euro". The language is codified by race and stereotypes. The Hardaway comparison is interesting for Jimmer, and last year Monroe got the Divac comparisons, but rarely do you ever see cross-racial player comparisons.

 

[Dime Dropper]

The hypocrisy when it comes to European players is that American analysts (and most fans) seem to believe American whites are somehow different from European whites, which is of course ludicrous. You will hear analysts saying Vesely is "not a typical Euro" but you won't hear them saying "he's not a typical white", which is EXACTLY what is meant. There is no difference between European whites and American whites.

 

[Alacron]

Jimmer is like some kind of John Stockton/Larry Bird/Shawn Bradley hybrid.
~~

 

[Arco Arena]

Vesely's athleticism was described as surprising, and I even heard someone (maybe Ford?) say he was "not a typical euro". The language is codified by race and stereotypes. The Hardaway comparison is interesting for Jimmer, and last year Monroe got the Divac comparisons, but rarely do you ever see cross-racial player comparisons.

Yes, because it was surprising. There haven't been many euros with his athleticism.

 

[Livinthedream]

If your athleticism is above average, you'll get the credit, no matter what race. Joe Alexander was athletic and he got the credit. Fans and media stereotype more than scouts do, because it affects the scouts careers if they are wrong.

When you're comparing one player to another, what's the most obvious characteristic that we can see? Skin color. It's more mental laziness than it is outright stereotyping in my opinion.

On a side note, the fact that people are so sensitive to what is said about Jimmer, as evident by this article, I can see Jimmer becoming a very polarizing figure in the NBA. Regardless of how nice of a person he is.

 

[Spike]

Donte Greene is German. Is he a typical Euro?

His rebounding statistics tend to say so...

 

[=LarryLegend=]

Jimmer is like some kind of John Stockton/Larry Bird/Shawn Bradley hybrid.
~~

I think he is very similar to Mark Price.

 

[bajaden]

How many knew that Fredette was once considered the top highschool wide reciever in the state of New York? If you didn't know who Fredette was, and heard that, you'd automaticly think he was a very good athlete. How many of you would automaticly also think he was probably black? Rightly or wrongly, its how we've been programmed to think. I think Vlade is right about that. But I do think that applies more to the casual fan. I follow players from highschool through college and into the pro's. I think most people that do, become color blind. Black and white never enter my mind. I just don't think that way. But I've had friends that do. so I know its exists. Sometimes to an unconfortable level.

In one of my posts I compared Fredette to Timmy Hardaway. One, because of both players having a wicked crossover, and two, because I wanted to compare Fredette to someone that wasn't white, other than the obvious comparison, Curry. The fact that I thought that way, and went out of my way to make that comparison, shows the bias that exists.

 

[Vlade4GM]

I wasn't saying it's necessarily been something we've been specifically programmed to think, although societal factors may be part of it too. I think our brains have evolved to be pattern-seeking machines and that often leads us to making false causal relationships between certain attributes. I think that's the source of racial stereotypes, and stereotypes of all kinds.