NBA receives first overall 'A' in diversity study

[Alonzo]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The NBA had seven black top executives among its 30 teams during the 2007-08 season, the highest percentage of minority presidents and CEOs in men's professional sports history.

The 23 percent of black executives, plus high ratios of women and black vice presidents, helped the NBA receive the first overall "A" among men's sports teams, according to the report issued Thursday by Richard Lapchick.

Lapchick, the head of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, has issued the report for nearly two decades. The seven black executives were three more than last year.

"It doesn't surprise me. It was a kind of gradual move toward that," Lapchick said.

The only other sport to receive an overall "A" has been the WNBA.

There were 12 black head coaches in the NBA last season. At 40 percent, it's the highest in all pro sports. A league-record 42 percent of assistant coaches were minorities.

The seven black presidents/CEOs were: Terdema Ussery, Dallas Mavericks; Fred Whitfield, Charlotte Bobcats; Steve Mills, New York Knicks; Billy King, Philadelphia 76ers; Larry Miller, Portland Trail Blazers; Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons; and Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks.

King was fired in December, Thomas in April. The Washington Wizards' Susan O'Malley, the first and only female president of an NBA franchise, stepped down last summer.

Charlotte's Robert Johnson remained the only black majority owner in men's pro sports.

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers has his team in the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit.

"When you want to win, color doesn't really come into play. I think our league understands that as well as anybody," Rivers said. "I think our league has done a terrific job of hiring the best person. I think that's what we need to continue to do."

Three of the 12 coaches -- Charlotte's Sam Vincent, Dallas' Avery Johnson and Thomas -- were fired by the end of the season.

While there will be fewer black coaches next year, "it always balances out in the end," Lapchick said. "They might go down to 10 head coaches the next year, but they'll bounce back up to 13."

There have been 54 black head coaches in NBA history, more than twice as many as any other sport. MLB is second with 26 minority managers.

The NBA had 15 percent of its team vice presidents positions occupied by minorities.

Women comprised 41 percent of professional employees in the league office, higher than any other sport and an increase of 2 percentage points after three years of decline, the study said.

At the end of the season, 58 percent of the NBA referees were white, 37 percent black and 5 percent Latino. Violet Palmer is the lone female ref.

NBA officials did not immediately return e-mail or telephone messages.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3417300

[Cobra]

Considering the majority of the players are black I wouldn't call it diverse. Hardly any asians or hispanics and just a few whites tossed in.

[4Reaganomics]

not diverse at all

but why should it be

I want to see the best players in the world playing on teams coached by the best coaches

I could care less what color their skin is

[Alonzo]

reagan, the rating isn't for the players, it's for the people in charge, such as coaches, owners etc.

[Truth_and_Power]

The NBA is actually the opposite of diversity. But that's not what they mean. By "diverse" they mean "enough blacks".

[Cobra]

reagan, the rating isn't for the players, it's for the people in charge, such as coaches, owners etc.

I noticed that but the title said the NBA. Diversity ratings are pretty much crap, best coaches and players should be the goal not a color quota.

[cronic]

The only other sport to receive an overall "A" is the WNBA.

:worship::clapper::love:

[Alonzo]

I noticed that but the title said the NBA. Diversity ratings are pretty much crap, best coaches and players should be the goal not a color quota.

And a disproportionately low percentage of minorities reflects that?

Honestly, when you see things like this:

The statistics are staggering, both nationally and in New England. Of 616 football teams affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, only 16, or 2.6 percent, are guided by African-American head coaches, even though an estimated 19,667, or 32.7 percent, of the players last year were black, according to an NCAA survey (the figures exclude historically black colleges and universities).

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2006/09/21/few_minorities_get_the_reins_in_college_football/

Do you assume that whites are simply overwhelmingly more qualified?

[Truth_and_Power]

And a disproportionately low percentage of minorities reflects that?

Honestly, when you see things like this:



http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2006/09/21/few_minorities_get_the_reins_in_college_football/

Do you assume that whites are simply overwhelmingly more qualified?

I can throw the statistics that show an overwhealmingly large % of blacks PLAY in the NBA vs their proportion of the overall population. Does that mean they are overwhealmingly more qualified to play? Bonus Question: If you answer yes, does that make you a racist?

[Alonzo]

Truth, why would a sport that attracts so many minorities be lacking so many higher up?

The NBA, like all major sports, has a history of racism. More and more minorities, due to their skill, were being signed and drafted. Why has, in the NBA, that resulted in increasingly greater representation in higher levels of the organization, but the same hasn't happened elsewhere?

Are black people better basketball players innately? No. Are black people more likely to be in environments where basketball is a part of life? Yes. If you look at the hotbeds of black athletes, such as Oakland and Chicago, also have produced very high level white athletes, consistent with what one would expect from those areas. You see far fewer, white or black, basketball stars coming out of Boston or Long Island.

[Truth_and_Power]

And boston and long island are producing the coaches?

[Alonzo]

And boston and long island are producing the coaches?

Many recent NBA coaches are former players. I don't know of any other hotbeds of coaching.

[4Reaganomics]

Alonzo

do you believe that ownership selects a white coach to represent their team for revenue purposed or for public image

or do you believe that they are selecting the most qualified coach to win

because the answer has much relevance to me

[Alonzo]

I believe white people tend to give them better "feelings" and are taken more seriously. It's subconscious racism.

Kind of like a lot of people when they avoid black people on the street. They're not avoiding a "black" man, they're avoiding a "suspicious" looking man.

[4Reaganomics]

Is it beyond the realm of possibility that 85% of the best instructors of the sport of basketball happen to be white?

[Alonzo]

Is it beyond the realm of possibility that 85% of the best instructors of the sport of basketball happen to be white?

Considering the demographics on the court, and the changing face of professional basketball in terms of color, it's unlikely. I expect there to be a disproportionate makeup due to past discrimination, meaning many older coaches would be white. But to see so little changing at some levels, yet so much changing at the peak level, seems strange.

[Osborn F. Enready]

T&P said:
The NBA is actually the opposite of diversity. But that's not what they mean. By "diverse" they mean "enough blacks".

On target.

[4Reaganomics]

Considering the demographics on the court, and the changing face of professional basketball in terms of color, it's unlikely. I expect there to be a disproportionate makeup due to past discrimination, meaning many older coaches would be white. But to see so little changing at some levels, yet so much changing at the peak level, seems strange.

I have two issues with this theory that you are promoting here and that I have heard often.

The first is that I do not think it is realistic to claim that "many black players on the court" should equate with "many black coaches". Playing and coaching are two different skills. Many blacks being good at playing doesn't simply mean that many blacks will coach well.

The second issue is that how do we know that there are not many black coaches simply because they don't pursue the positions. It seems to me that it is more than possible that is so happens that many whites take up coaching after playing and many blacks may enjoy other activities or just retire with a good living from playing.

[Osborn F. Enready]

4Reaganomics said:
I have two issues with this theory that you are promoting here and that I have heard often.

The first is that I do not think it is realistic to claim that "many black players on the court" should equate with "many black coaches". Playing and coaching are two different skills. Many blacks being good at playing doesn't simply mean that many blacks will coach well.

The second issue is that how do we know that there are not many black coaches simply because they don't pursue the positions. It seems to me that it is more than possible that is so happens that many whites take up coaching after playing and many blacks may enjoy other activities or just retire with a good living from playing.

.... on target again, and I totally agree.

[Alonzo]

I have two issues with this theory that you are promoting here and that I have heard often.

The first is that I do not think it is realistic to claim that "many black players on the court" should equate with "many black coaches". Playing and coaching are two different skills. Many blacks being good at playing doesn't simply mean that many blacks will coach well.

The second issue is that how do we know that there are not many black coaches simply because they don't pursue the positions. It seems to me that it is more than possible that is so happens that many whites take up coaching after playing and many blacks may enjoy other activities or just retire with a good living from playing.

Coaches who were players are, at least with recent coaches, overwhelmingly black. That's the NBA though. And, in the NBA, many black players are resulting in significantly larger amounts of black coaches.

We know that, in the NBA, there was discrimination at all levels and, over time, the discrimination essentially disappeared resulting in significant increases of blacks in all levels of the organization. If that happens in the NBA, why isn't that happening in football, baseball or college level sports?

Essentially, all leagues have racist pasts. The NBA seems to be overcoming that at all levels. What makes the NBA different? Why are black people taking those positions at higher and higher levels but not doing so in other sports?

[davo]

the NBA is far from diverse as it's overwhelmingly black. By 'diverse' Alonzo means the least white.