When the college basketball season is over and the NBA playoffs have come to a close, basketball fans no longer have to wait until next fall –– they can follow the All-American Basketball League!

This league was created to allow white basketball players, who are in the minority of the NBA, to play their favorite sport and is accepting only white Americans who have both parents being American citizens. Based in Atlanta, the league plans to target 12 cities in the Southeast, including Augusta.
Augusta’s mayor and the athletic director at Augusta State University both had negative reactions to the proposed establishment, calling it “absurd”, “funny”, and not fitting “with the spirit of inclusiveness” that defines the city.

The AABA’s commissioner, Don “Moose” Lewis, said that the goal of the league is not racism, but instead has to deal with the fact that white players are now in the NBA’s minority, and that “people of color” play street–ball instead of real basketball.

“Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch?” Lewis asked.

According to dictionary.com, racism is “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement.”

Saying that people of color are going to flip off or attack fans, but white players won’t, is saying that there is an inherent difference between the basketball styles of people of different races.

I’d say this is racism.

I’d also say these reasons are extremely false. When was the last time you went to a basketball game and were attacked by a player?

As an avid Cleveland Cavaliers fan, I’ve gone to numerous games, and I can’t say I’ve ever left traumatized because LeBron James grabbed his crotch after he flipped me off.

Basketball players aren’t animals; they’re athletes. They’re being characterized much as we characterize rap artists and the hip–hop culture.
Just because someone isn’t white doesn’t mean they’re “straight thug” or whatever other derogatory personas Americans relate to people of color.

The AABA also cites recent NBA scandals as a reason to form a new league; because white Americans are so moral and would never bring guns into a room like Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards, or be caught with guns on their person like Delonte West of the Cavaliers.

Hi, my name’s Tim Donaghy. I’m an NBA referee who was caught betting on games and calling them to make sure I won, and I’m a white American.

True, Donaghy isn’t a player, but he’s just as involved in the NBA as the teams, and even though he’s white, he committed what is considered on the top 10 greatest professional sports scandals, ranking higher on the list than Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case.

What this comes down to is the fact that white Americans can’t admit that someone is better than them. Americans have grown up being taught that they are superior to virtually every other people in the world. Then when we lose at our own game, we create a new one.

Basketball is basketball, regardless of who is on the court. It’s about skill, not color. If you’re in the white minority and you want to play in the NBA, step it up a notch. It’s your job, not ours.

Or, hey, white players could just start their own league where they don’t have to worry about feeling pressured to attack fans or grab their crotches.

Because that’s what the NBA is about now. I guess the rest of the players just missed the memo.