*Think of the daytime drama the “Young and the Restless” but a basketball version. Read through and you’ll see for yourself. It’s about Jalen Rose who reportedly made racist comments about Kevin Love and when Twitter got involved it got uglier.
Is there a smidgeon of truth but distastefully said? Or is this just plain old reverse racism? Not sure, but ESPN sports analyst Jalen Rose doesn’t seem to think Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love (a white athlete) is worth his salt. As least as far as the USA men’s basketball is concerned.
“Anybody that watched the league this year knows Kevin Love did not have a stellar season, was not the best player on his team and did not necessarily deserve to be on this squad,” Jalen Rose said – as reported on Sandra Rose.
Let’s think about it:
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and reported in The Atlantic, when Blacks have been perceived as “tokens” anywhere (It’s more than a platitude that) they’ve had to perform maybe twice as good but at least just as well as everyone else.
Still, you might recall complaints about the minority who gained hard-won entry into a prestigious job, or got to study at a great university only to be balked at — with concerns about being good enough.
So yeah, when you think about it, what Jalen Rose said is reminiscent of all that. Especially since in a video below you’ll hear a fan saying Kevin Love could one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“Kevin Love is on the team because of tokenism. Don’t be scared to make an all-Black team representing the United States of America.”
Jalen Rose said that on his Jalen & Jacoby podcast last week and has since apologized.
Twitter got wild when the ESPN analyst said what was up.
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Kevin Love’s fans clapped back. And among the things said were: Kevin won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the 2012 London Games. Plus, he was a noted player when the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA championship. If he wasn’t good enough he couldn’t have done that.
According to Sandra Rose, Twitter users accused Jalen Rose of jealousy because he was never an all-star, he never won an NBA ring and he was never on the Olympic team.
Twitter also said, when late Lakers star Kobe Bryant went up for a jump shot – in the 2000 NBA Finals – Jalen Rose intentionally tried to hurt Bryant by slipping his foot under the NBA star.
Still, Jalen Rose maintained Kevin Love just wasn’t qualified for the Olympics team and USA Basketball only saw Kevin Love‘s White skin color.
So, despite any mention of race, is Kevin Love clearly good enough to be on the Olympics team? Would you be afraid to say if he weren’t? Is what Jalen Rose said jealously, rivalry or is it plain old reverse-racism? Or could it be true, but distastefully said? You be the judge.
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