The Junction: Stan Van Gundy, Arthur, and The Ball Family
Every week, the GSC staff weighs in on debates and controversies related to sports and other off-court issues. This week, we’re talking patriotism, white-washing cartoon characters, and what happened in China.
Stan Van Gundy’s Time magazine article about athlete protests
Dan Szczepanek: I’ve been Team Van Gundy since Pepsi Gate, so it comes as no surprise that he nails this issue as well. Outside of SVG, it’s been refreshing to see other NBA coaches (like Pop and Kerr) step up and speak frankly about what is an unnecessarily polarizing topic. Contrast that to the NFL’s current climate, where you have Nantucket Bill fear-mongering about murderous Mexican earthquakes, and Bob McNair being removed from his cryogenic chamber just long enough to grab a microphone and reminisce about what it was like to own slaves and cotton fields, and you begin to realize just how large the gap is between the leadership of both leagues. So H/T to Van Gundy (and the NBA in general) for showing their players that they have their backs, and they understand the issues plaguing their communities.
Sandy Mui: Let me just say, writing personal pieces are not easy. I’ve tried it, and I am inspired by anyone who’s able to write them so eloquently. Stan Van Gundy definitely falls under that bubble. He did an excellent job of combining his own personal take on athlete protests with history and what he learned from Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, the author of Tears We Cannot Stop; A Sermon to White America. Hats off to Van Gundy for inviting Dr. Dyson to speak to his team as well. The article and his actions just show how aware he is of social and political issues.
Gord Randall: Full disclosure: I didn’t read the whole article, just saw the key quote. I agree with SVG’s quote, but this is just another example of an issue I see with our society. Why do we, as a society, put so much stock in someone like a basketball coach to shape our political discourse? What qualifications does Van Gundy have to be an influential voice in this issue? It’s puzzling and counter-productive.
Parker Goss: I thought it was great. Van Gundy and Pop specifically are two coaches who have been really outspoken about racial issues and politics, and I always feel really proud to hear them speak up for what’s right. I think his take on the issue is one that a lot of people agree with, myself included, but regardless of the fact that I agreed, he was extremely articulate and genuine. You can tell he has taken the time to understand the nuances of the issues surrounding kneeling in the NFL without speaking for or over the black community. I’m proud he got the platform to speak his mind, and I was very impressed by the execution.
Nikhil Helferty: The Notorious SVG lived up to his moniker in praising those protesting, as well as directing the focus onto the issues that drove Colin Kaepernick to kneel in the first place, which have unfortunately been swept under the outrage of fake patriots.
Brandon Anderson: “Patriots of the highest honor” as a pull quote tends to get a bit of an eye roll, but I’m with Van Gundy on this one. Our athletes are using their platform to stand for things they believe in, things we should all believe in. Colin Kaepernick is not kneeling to protest a cloth, the troops, or even a president. He’s protesting police brutality against black men in America. He put his job at jeopardy to start a conversation, one we are now having at the cost of his livelihood. Kaepernick is a patriot, as are the other athletes using their platform for good. He makes me proud to be a sports fan.
Arthur and NBC Sports Boston
Szczepanek: I’d like to give NBC Sports Boston the benefit of the doubt, and blame this on budget cuts/being understaffed due to The Athletic going all, “We will steal your staff and devour the spleens of our enemies” on the sports media landscape. At the same time though, with Boston’s abysmal track record when it comes to race relations and sports, would anybody be shocked to learn that it was intentional?
Mui: There’s no doubt Arthur had a lighter skin tone in the video; there are ton of side-by-side comparison photos in replies to the tweets and others who have tweeted those photos on their own timelines. I’d also like to point out that I wouldn’t have even known about this video if it weren’t for all this controversy, since I don’t follow the Celtics nor Boston sports that closely. Crazy how potential wrongdoing stirs the pot and becomes newsworthy, eh?
Randall: That’s peak Boston.
Goss: I mean when you compare it to the generic Arthur hand meme template that’s most easily found on Google, yeah it looks like they lightened it, or they just found the whitest one. It’s definitely lighter than the original Arthur.
Helferty: I don’t think they intentionally did it, but Arthur certainly does appear whiter in their tweet. My guess is the image they happened to find was just coincidentally lighter. I’m actually more baffled at the rest of the video, wherein Arthur vaguely threatens LeBron and Isaiah Thomas for using his “likeness” while strutting across the screen, before proclaiming that he’s “from Boston,” at which point the video explains that Arthur creator Marc Brown lives in Boston and therefore Arthur is a Celtics fan. Why bother the Cavs at all, who they haven’t played since opening night? Why go at Isaiah Thomas, who the Celtics brutally traded away weeks after he played through an injury he is still now recovering from? And most of all, why does Arthur sound like he just inhaled a bunch of helium offstage before making this PSA? Has nobody at NBC Sports Boston watched “Arthur”?
Andrson: Sigh. Boy, it sure looked like Arthur’s skin color was lightened. I mean, how silly can we get with this stuff? Here’s the thing though — do a Google image search for Arthur. Lots of different browns and tans going on. It looks clear that Arthur’s color has changed over the years, maybe just from one medium to the next, or maybe the Arthur folks themselves whitewashed him at some point. I’m just glad we’re talking about Arthur and not his incredibly annoying sister D.W.
LiAngelo Ball and other UCLA players’ shenanigans in China; Donald Trump and LaVar Ball beef
Szczepanek: Forget Trump, LaVar et al for a minute and riddle me this: Why does an “amateur” sports league need a week-long, international showcase in China?
Mui: This has got to be the most idiotic episode of 2017. First, there are college basketball players who are stupid enough to shoplift in China (it would’ve been bad if it were in the States, but they really just had to stir up trouble overseas). Second, of course, because Donald Trump and LaVar Ball are somehow relevant in 2017, their Twitter beef, then LaVar Ball spouting off on CNN are newsworthy. This is why journalism is dying, folks.
Randall: The players are idiots. Like, really? You’re going to screw around in CHINA?! I kind of wish they would have been left to sweat it out for awhile and see just how monumentally dumb that was. As for the Twitter beef (and this is somewhat related to my complaint in answer 1), we shouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised that 2017 has come to LaVar Ball vs. Donald Trump.
Goss: I mean it makes sense they were suspended; they would have been if they got caught in the States too. More importantly, it was very Big Baller© of LaVar to basically shrug off Trump’s involvement in the whole ordeal in his CNN interview. Honestly, I just can’t picture a world where any of them actually spent time in a Chinese prison. I don’t see them even being suspended for long. I really just don’t care.
Helferty: The players are dumb, Trump is dumb, everyone involved in this is dumb, except as usual maybe not LaVar Ball, who maybe engineered all of this beforehand in order to get under Trump’s skin and get himself on network news. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but I don’t think it can be ruled out. Who’s to say the next BBB shoe won’t just have “Fuck Trump” emblazoned on its sides?
Anderson: You knew the LaVar/Trump mashup was coming. It was always coming. I just didn’t expect it to include China too. Really hit the 2017 trifecta. My first thought is that the UCLA players are morons, but no one would have thought about it for more than five seconds if they were any other players than LaVar Ball’s kid. It’s a non-story. But, of course, LaVar makes it a story, and of course Trump does too. Was there really any question that Trump would weigh in? These are two men who make everything about themselves. And I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m with LaVar on this one: who?
Lonzo Ball’s walk-off during the Lakers-Suns brawl
Szczepanek: Lonzo’s got a lot going on right now, so you can’t really blame him for avoiding what would surely have been a knifing from human-rage-machine/professional-Rufio-impersonator Devin Booker. Fairly or not, Zo’s had a target on his back since Day 1, even though he’s said about as much as Jared Kushner. Personally, I’d love to see him taken away from his father’s circle of influence for awhile, and have him live with either Magic or Luke Walton, kind of like what the Penguins did when they had Sid move in with Super Mario when he first arrived in the NHL. Until then, debates like “Did Lonzo abandon his teammates?” will rage on, and that can’t be good for the kid’s development.
Mui: I actually commend Lonzo Ball for staying out of trouble. It’s sad that not everyone has recognized that this was a mature move by Lonzo. The NBA has amped up on giving technical fouls in recent years (it added four new infractions in the 2010–11 season, including “making aggressive gestures anywhere on the court”), and Lonzo definitely would have been assessed a technical if he chose to throw himself into the situation instead of walking away. He even said, “I ain’t trying to get no tech,” on the situation. Sure, he took the heat for a couple of days or so, but he can stand his ground by knowing he made the smarter decision.
Randall: While it doesn’t speak much to his relationship with his teammates, good for Lonzo for pulling himself away from a dumb situation like that. He’s likely going to make more of an impact on his team’s success by staying healthy and avoiding suspension anyway.
Goss: More than anything, it just seems dumb on Lonzo’s part. This would really have been a great time for Lonzo to kind of puff his chest out like an asshole and act like he’s one of the guys. Maybe not to prove anything to his teammates, who I think are on his side by now, but just to the league as a whole. Pick up a chair or something dude, really go the extra mile.
Helferty: Who is being disrespectful by walking away from a fake fight? If anything, it made me like Lonzo more. NBA games are already too long, and these little ballets only stretch them out, particularly since they invariably prompt an interminable referee review (which are also pointless — will someone tell these refs to skip the charade and just assign the double techs that everyone knows are coming? If you’re going to cop out with the double T, then let’s get it over with quickly at least). Apparently Lonzo’s teammates talked with him afterwards about his shameful display of cowardice, which means I’m guessing sometime in the next few games, we’ll see Lonzo rushing headlong into the next fray when two guys decide to dance forehead-to-forehead. Until that point, I will hope Lonzo instead talked some sense into his teammates, and they will instead simply walk away and play basketball.
Anderson: I found Lonzo Ball’s walk-off perfectly sensible and, dare I say it, mature. The poor kid can’t win for losing. If he had gone into the brawl, everyone would’ve ragged him for taking out his frustrations from a poor start to the season and talked about how immature he is. Now he’s apparently a bad teammate because he didn’t hop into a brawl? Look at how much Lonzo’s teammates enjoy playing with him on the court, how much they constantly have his back. They know who he is. They know where he stands. They don’t need him getting hurt or suspended to prove anything to anyone. The macho culture double standard here is ridiculous. I’ll take the 20-year-old mature enough (despite all the media attention) to just walk away in that moment every single time.
