The European takeover of the NBA is a highly discussed topic. While many are happy with the progress of the league because foreign players are emerging in an American sport, others have had an issue with the complete dominance that the foreign players have shown in the last few decades. Recently, Rex Chapman commented on the current state of the league, especially from the perspective of white parents, which is raising some eyebrows. NBA veteran Gilbert Arenas added his two cents to the discussion during a No Chill Gil session.
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Chapman’s comment shed light on the declining trend of white parents pushing their kids to dream about becoming a basketball player. They have become fearful due to the increased chances of failure. Arenas said,
“This is great information… We know the white American got pushed out of the NBA and the Euro took over white America. That’s who is the new white person. No one really explained what happened to the white America.”
The three-time All-Star said that there are a lot of contributing factors to this decline, the biggest of which is how the athletes are trained in America. He blamed the AAU coaches for coddling young American athletes which led to them being less prepared for tougher challenges as compared to their European competition. Arenas said that the parents also have a role to play in this downfall as they unnecessarily protect their kids when it’s time for them to pay their dues by enduring hardships.
The European parents, on the other hand, don’t come up to their kids’ defense as they allow the coaches to mold them into good players by showing tough love. As a result, white American athletes have lacked the toughness that is required in the league, which is now resulting in white parents not encouraging their kids to dream to become an NBA player.
Rex Chapman reflects on the shift in momentum in white America
Chapman believes that over a period of time, the quality has deteriorated in the basketball players that white America is producing. This isn’t to say that they can’t play basketball anymore, but it has more to do with the fact that the white players coming from Europe have gotten better than them. He said,
“We are you know… can’t play that sport. It’s not…doesn’t suit your race. That’s not how these guys are brought up.”
Chapman said that this gradual drop in interest in playing basketball has forced budding white athletes to take up other sports. He said,
“So we don’t put Billy and Johnny and we put them in soccer and we put them in baseball and we put them in lacrosse and tennis and everything else. Basketball, that’s for them. It’s not for our type. That’s f**ked up.”
Chapman has started an interesting conversation with this which was largely untapped until now. In the coming weeks, we could get more perspectives on this discussion.
