Timberwolves have eight white players and it's perfectly fine to question how that happened
by Jae Bryson
The Minnesota Timberwolves have embarked on a team-building strategy that has yielded at least one obvious result: the team has the most white players in the African American-dominated NBA. Even Star Tribune beat writer had to make note of it in his blog:
Zgoda wrote: “David Kahn said the team contemplated making a deal to get a player they targeted late in the first round -- he wouldn't say who, but it was Duke center Miles Plumlee [author's note: Plumlee is also white], who they brought to Target Center for a second workout on Tuesday -- but they didn't succeed when Indiana took him 26th.
“So they waited another couple hours and took Hummel, a 6-8 shooting small forward who Kahn deemed would have been a first-round pick if his career hadn't been detoured by two torn ACLs within 10 months of each other in 2010.
“If you're keeping score at home, Hummel's arrival now gives the Wolves eight white guys currently on their roster.”
It was that last comment that caused a stir on Zgoda's blog with several readers taking exception to it. A reader with the screen-name Sheepdogged posted, “Are you serious? You're bringing the color of somebodies skin into the conservation? What's wrong with you?”
But, the underlying question of whether this is racism, coincidence, marketing or a combination of all three, is valid. Kevin Love is a bona fide All-Star, the remaining members of the squad were selected to support him, the team's centerpiece – a white guy.
That selection happens two ways: by draft or trades. Because of the nature of the personnel process – the NBA is a vigorous meritocracy – black NBA players are the norm. Roughly 75% of the 2012 NBA draft featured black players; about 65% of current NBA players are black players. So, by trades and drafts, it is highly unlikely that this racial mix would happen without some attention to skin color.
Certainly, with a colorblind, talent-focused strategy, anomalies occur. Michael Jordan, a great player, but so-so talent evaluator has had several white players he has been high on, Adam Morrison for example. But it's difficult to make a case for that argument with the Timberwolves. They have taken cast-offs: Darko Milicic; undersized bit players: JJ Barea, Luke Ridnour; and projects: Nikola Pekovic. A more cynical rationale is that it is marketing-based with plausible deniability, sort of like the 2010 Atlanta Thrashers.
The Thrashers, an NHL team, for a time had five black players, which is virtually unheard of in that league. The Thrashers began the 2010 season with five black players on their roster, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the 26 black players in the NHL.
Though they sent one of the five men down to the minors, the Thrashers were hoping to use their diverse roster to lure new fans, according to a New York Times report. The Thrashers marketing department created a campaign for print media and "urban radio" that targeted Atlanta's large and affluent African American population.
The Thrashers' management denied race played an issue in assembling the team, but it is worth noting that when the team moved to Winnipeg, Canada, a city with a far smaller black population than Atlanta, three of the black players were traded away.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and general manager David Kahn would certainly make the same denials as the Thrashers management and they would sound just as disingenuous. Their strategy seems less post-racial (again, excepting Love) and more a combination of marketing and mid-20th century racial habits.
The Timberwolves have been an awful team for a number of years and in that time the Twin Cities has become home to pro sports teams comprised primarily of white stars – the Vikings, the Wild, the Twins all have white franchise players.
If the Timberwolves double down on race, by surrounding Love with primarily white players, a certain percentage of white fans will forgive the losses and lack of success simply because of the team's racial make-up and spend their money on tickets and merchandise.
But, it's a dangerous game Messrs. Taylor and Kahn are playing with the franchise. The NBA is a players' league and the team is sending the message – alleged, in anticipation of their protests – that black players aren't wanted. That message was received loud and clear when it came to the Boston Celtics in the 1980s and 1990s. Because of a very similar program of drafting and trading for white players, the Celtics became a pariah destination for black NBA players.
It's ironic that Kevin Garnett, who is black and was the team's only superstar, at first refused a trade to Boston from the Timberwolves. Many sources say it was because of Boston's longstanding racial reputation. Boston's superstar, Paul Pierce, had a hand in convincing KG that the franchise had changed its ways and they went on to win a championship.
Now, with Taylor and Kahn's selection strategy in place, a future KG might veto a trade to the Timberwolves for the same reason – and not have a Paul Pierce type to convince him otherwise.
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