patrick.net

This is almost an old subject in the NBA where every new caucasian player gets dubbed 'The 2nd Coming of Larry Bird' before his career flames out.

And there's really no need for it.

There was one Larry Bird and that's that.

https://patrick.net/post/1287963/2015-12-26-will-larry-bird-forever-be-the-last-great-white-basketball-player

Back then he wasn't rare, just talented.

Tenpoundbass says

Back then he wasn't rare, just talented.

I wouldn't put Bill Laimbeer in the category of great 'white' players unless you're talking about wrestling moves in the post as a b-ball skill. Then yes, he's an extraordinary mugger down low. Both Laimbeer and Rodman were dubbed "McNasty & McFilthy" by Boston radio announcer Johnny Most for their thuggish moves.

The other players in the great white hope (modern post-Bob Cousy time) category are John Havlicek, Jerry West, Dave Cowens (yes, I'm bias towards Celtic legends but I love watching him on classic sports), Rick Barry, Bill Walton (ok, only a few seasons due to foot injuries), Kevin McHale, and if you're really generous in terms of a pure shooter, Pete Maravich.

My point was, when Byrd was playing, the NBA teams were 30% to 50% white now it's less than 5%.

Tenpoundbass says

My point was, when Byrd was playing, the NBA teams were 30% to 50% white now it's less than 5%.

This is true, however, what's changed during my childhood was the exodus of Maravich, Cowens, Barry, & Walton, signaling the end of the white potential of making all-star or being on the top 5 of MVP casting.

So sure, there were supporting/role players who were white and obviously contributed, including dirt bags like Laimbeer, however, they would never challenge let's say a Magic, Jordan, Olajuwon, or Pippen again.

By the time I was in starting High School, Kevin McHale limped (yes, he ruined his ankle) into retirement and since then, we haven't seen a white all-star if you exclude the international visitors like Nowitzki and Nash.

Who wants to waste their money watching honkey ball? I remember a small Filipino player at my gym, where they had spectacular college level players, who dribbled so adroitly and just was so fast that nobody could stop him from going in to plant the basket. He'd probably be smushed like a bug by the pros, though.

Rin says

The other players in the great white hope (modern post-Bob Cousy time) category are John Havlicek, Jerry West, Dave Cowens (yes, I'm bias towards Celtic legends but I love watching him on classic sports), Rick Barry, Bill Walton (ok, only a few seasons due to foot injuries), Kevin McHale, and if you're really generous in terms of a pure shooter, Pete Maravich.

Dirk Nowitzki. Honroable mentions: Assist kings John Stockton, Steve Nash.

Jason Williams on the Kings brought some awesome flash to the game and that team was the most fun to watch in the 2000s. No one has been able to replicate that amount of fun in the game since then. Luca Dontcic looks like a phenomenal talent, but he's also a foreigner.

Al_Sharpton_for_President says

Assist kings John Stockton

Yes, Stockton was America's last white all star, however, one of the reasons why I don't praise him too much is that a vast majority of his assists were in getting Malone his numbers to be no 2 to Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

I mean without that Stockton boost, Malone's no where near the prolific scorer as the others on the top 10 scorers of all time.

So if I were to create the nucleus of a franchise squad, it would be Jordan and Olajuwon from the list above.

In other words, two elite defenders (w/ Olajuwon being the all time shot blocker) who're also prolific scorers on various parts of the court, Olajuwon mostly down low and Jordan, all over the place, esp in the mid-range where his effectiveness was greater than anyone else of the 90s generation.

Plus, in my setup, Olajuwon is not forced to sag off his man to block a perimeter shooter. That was one of Houston's weaknesses which limited them during much of the early 90s when they didn't have the mojo to stop the hot shooters on the outside,

Surround these guys with role players, who're not defensive liabilities and you get a contender, year after year.

The Big O - Oscar Robertson. Amazing player.

Rin says

Yes, Stockton was America's last white all star,

https://www.nba.com/history/awards/mvp you forgot dirk and nash... but yeah same idea.

im glad noone cares either way and its merely a reflection of leftist policy madness.

if we had a race draft, doesnt team white get first dabs at steph curry? he's like 80% european. what about that redhead dunker? isnt he 65% white? dude is a fricken ginger.

CBOEtrader says

you forgot dirk and nash

Dirk's German and Nash is Canadian-South African. Those are not white American guys & no, getting some dual citizenship after the age of 25 doesn't count.

The thing here is that white Americans, which means ppl like Maravich, Havlicek, Cowens, Bird, McHale, Barry, Walton, are no longer coming up in the NBA ranks. I don't know why that's the case and why nearly ALL the white all stars are international players (meaning that they didn't have US citizenship prior to starting in the league, aside from Boston Celtic's Hayward).

There will be no future 'Hick from French Lick Indiana' a.k.a Larry Joe Bird.

I personally believe that if Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash grew up in the USA, instead of their respective home countries of Germany and Canada, chances are ... they wouldn't become NBA All Star MVPs.

I believe that there's something about our current US mentoring a/o coaching system which inhibits white guys from pursuing b-ball in place of let's say football or hockey unless you're from Hoosier-ville Indiana, like Gordon Hayward.

If Dirk's family re-located to the US when he was let's say 5 years old, chances are, he'd be dissuaded from pursuing b-ball to its highest level and thus, perhaps end up as a type of outside shooting stand-in guy, see Raef LaFrentz, than a franchise player or go for something completely different like tennis.