william brown: I actually find this Mark Jackson business a little more interesting than the Sterling affair...I think that racism and religious discrimination may have played a hand in his being fired...a subtle hand perhaps...maybe an unconscious one on Joe Lacob's part but...I don't know, do you feel anything like that or am i just seeing things...
Graeme Abernethy: I actually hadn't thought much about that angle, but after reading these comments this morning http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2065541-steve-kerr-faces-challenge-to-win-over-players-upset-over-mark-jacksons-firing and seeing your email something kind of clicked. Sounds like EVERYONE in the front office is white and the salary comparisons really threw me. Mark made 2 mill and Steve gets 5? Holy shit... The religious stuff I regard a little differently You can argue that Jackson had no business making religion so central to his coaching and that imposing Christianity compromises religious freedom for non-christian team members, so I see that one going both ways. I'm all for keeping religion out of the workplace.william brown: That "Bleacher Report" article was a fascinating read...the salary disparity is ridiculous..."too black"..I think that's what I was getting at with Mark Jackson...he's from Brooklyn...doesn't golf...passionate about christianity...although it did say he preaches at a non-denominational church so i'm thinking he might have the insight to make his pep talks inclusive to everybody...and I think his being "too black" just didn't mesh with the personalities of the all white front office crew...so is that racism then or is that just not fitting in?
Graeme Abernethy: It looks like racism if Jackson doesn't get another shot somewhere, that's for sure. I see him ending up in Minnesota or something, where they need a strong leader for all the mishmash parts and young guys. Obviously there was kind of a cultural split there between the wealthy Bay Area types and the New Yorker who preaches in LA...just not on the same page socially or organizationally...golf as you mention is part of it. Jackson seems more in touch with regular people rather than living the country club life, and i guess that's how a lot of these guys are comfortable doing business. In the NBA though there should definitely be some prominent roles in coaching and management for black guys, as those cultural aspects need to be balanced out. Maybe Kerr will do a decent job hiring his assistants, but that remains to be seen.
william brown: I've long since given up of an athlete doing anything on the protest front...which makes what Muhammad Ali did even more awe inspiring back in the day...the clippers could've wore all black jersey's with no logo which would've been dope...I wonder what some of these other guys would've done in the Clippers shoes...like West or Lebron or I think Kobe said he wouldn't have played...what if the jersey of the Clippers said "Los Angeles Sterlings" on them instead of the Clippers?!...there's no way the players would've worn that right?...and what's a fan of the Clippers to do...can you really walk around repping a Clippers jersey right now?
Graeme Abernethy, is a Poor Righteous Teacher, who just survived and thrived at a teaching post in Lagos, Nigeria. He can be lost and found at www.graemeabernethy.com His book "The Iconography of Malcolm X" should most definitely be checked out here