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<p>Pro sports is not blind to questions of race. There isn’t a set quota but many pro sports teams do in fact give a “tip” to athletic URMs (i.e. white guys) in making the final cuts and determining the final roster. They can’t afford to take race into much account among the stars and the starting line-up. Because those guys are going to determine whether they win or lose. But ever look down at the far end of the bench on an NBA team? That’s where white guys become increasingly common, because that’s where the athletic version of Affirmative Action gets put into practice. </p>
<p>Not that those white guys riding the bench are lousy players. Quite the contrary - all of them were fabulous stars on their college teams. But at the level of the NBA they are merely competent and not NBA star-quality. So when you are the head coach and you are making cuts to determine the final slots, and you have five black guys guys and one white guy all of pretty much equal talent competing for that last spot, are going to just pick randomly or are you going to look for “balance” or “diversity” and put a white face on the roster?</p>
<p>And when a white guy comes along who can actually star in the NBA the league goes nuts over him, much the same way colleges now go nuts over a black kid with top academic stats. I recall back in the 80s when Danny Ainge came out of college and had a choice between pro baseball and pro basketball, there were scouts and officials from the NBA, including African American ones, recruiting him hard, in fact BEGGING him, to sign with them “for the sake of the league.” Because they couldn’t afford to let that opportunity to put a white face in the starting line-up get away from them.</p>