I think Thomas is right about the subtle racism in the NBA. I think that is slowly changing, but especially growing up, I can recall specific examples and players that illustrate this. Jon Barry, as a white Pistons role player, was always crafty and smart, for example. Junkyard Dog was always the hustling, blue collar workhorse. Zeke’s got a legit point, no question.

I think Thomas is dead wrong about Larry Bird, though, and I question his claim that he was being entirely sarcastic. Bird was a beast. So was McHale. That those dudes happened to be white was just the chance of genetics. To say otherwise, even if sarcastically, honestly makes my blood boil … And why shouldn’t it? If there’s one issue where sarcasm doesn’t have a place, it’s certainly race (close second, gender and sexuality).

Flip the script — if a white dude like Bird had said something like, “Zeke is only as good as he is because he’s black and athletic…” What would have been the result? Certainly, a huge (and justified) backlash. The fact that Zeke’s in the minority group that has historically been the victim of racism doesn’t justify the reverse, right?

Even if Zeke’s points, which came out later, are correct (and I agree with you that they are), that doesn’t do anything to undermine the inflammatory nature of what he originally said, and I’m not going to hold it against anyone for being emotionally charged up about some incredibly emotionally charged statements.

Hell, I’ll just lay it out there — as an un-athletic white kid who was able to carve out a decent career without being incredibly gifted with genes, those comments piss me off to this day. I grew up idolizing Zeke, Rodman, Johnson, Dumars, Laimbeer. I used to pretend I was them in my driveway — and I was too young to even have a clue about racism. I didn’t care one way or another that he was black and that I was white … until he raised the issue the way he did. Growing up, hearing those clips replayed made me think he’d have something against me — a white kid trying to be like him.

It’s all ancient history, of course, but yeah, it still bugs me. So there’s full disclosure.