Because he has been a solid pro without a history of sticking a size 16 sneaker
in his mouth or doing something off the court that would cause sleepless nights
inside the organization, you can give Andre Iguodala a pass on this one. Fine.
But the folks who shouldn’t are the same ones who’ve taken it upon themselves to
be the righteous voices of society. And so: Where’s the condemnation from the
social-conscious NBA players and coaches when it comes to one of their own?
LeBron James? You out there?
Chris Paul?
Heck, how about Steve Kerr, since this happened in your front yard?
In case you missed it, in a bizarre and unprompted rant following the Warriors’
loss to Minnesota on Friday, Iguodala used a racial slur and “master” for
reasons only he knows. He later relayed a message through an ESPN reporter that
the “master” comment was an in-house joke, and if so, maybe it should’ve stayed
there.
And even if it was a misguided attempt at humor, what about the N-word? Or are
we, as a society, completely forgiving of today’s generation when they drop that
word so regularly in conversation? Taking it a step further: Suppose a white
player did that? We know the answer to that question.
For the last few years, NBA players and the league itself has decided to take
strong stances both politically and socially, and there’s some nobility to that.
Donald Sterling’s voice mails, the shooting of unarmed black men and police
brutality were worth the outcry. No argument there.
Still, the players run the risk of being hypocrites when they suddenly turn
silent when policing their own. Notice how nobody immediately rushed to social
media to give Iguodala a viral slap on the wrist. The leader in the social
clubhouse, LeBron, had nothing to say. Paul is the president of the players
union, and there were crickets coming from him. And Kerr, so willing to condemn
hatred and also his disdain for the current White House administration, offered
nothing in the immediate aftermath of Iguodala, although to be fair, Kerr wasn’t
available afterward and will undoubtedly speak on the subject before Saturday’s
Warriors-Spurs game.
Not only was Iguodala’s comments offensive, he never offered a coherent reason
for them. And anyway, what reason can he give? That he was joking? Really, is
that funny?
The bigger issue here is with the league’s players. They can’t have it one way
and not the other. Last month, Russell Westbrook was overheard on a live
court-side microphone using the same racial slur and there wasn’t a single peep;
no teammates said anything, or opposing players, and no fines were issued. It’s
true that not all situations are similar; Sterling was a man in power of an
organization and could influence hiring and firings so his words cut deeper than
Iguodala’s. Not exactly apples to apples.
Just once, though, we’d like to see the activist players be consistent in their
criticism instead of cherry picking which causes to support. And also, if one of
their own says something dumb, then be quick to put them and their words in
their proper place.
Be consistent. Otherwise, your “stances” smell suspicious and we’ll rightly
wonder about your intentions.
Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications
for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and
follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its
clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
