Human beings are subjected to certain prejudices all around the world. One of the major prejudices plaguing the NBA world is the belief that athletes from African descent might be better athletes than their white counterparts. An old clip of Michael Jordan, who is arguably the greatest to ever step on the hardwood, has resurfaced.
There he was spotted touching on the subject of young white players being the victims of blatant racism that takes place in the basketball world.
Michael Jordan once spoke out on racism in basketball
Jordan is quite familiar with how basketball is set up in college and the NBA. The Chicago Bulls legend is very well aware of how an athlete gets shortlisted to feature in the big leagues. Mike reportedly opened on how the scouting process in the basketball world is unfair to the white folks throughout the selection procedure.
In the resurfaced clip Michael Jordan was saying, “I have white friends that wouldn’t get picked up because they didn’t feel that they could play as good as the black guys can play. That’s not fair. But that happens.”
Jordan made it clear that he has witnessed his Caucasian counterparts not getting shortlisted by the scouts because of their rather racist belief of white guys not being able to play ball.
There have been many basketball legends who have disproved the theory of white guys incompetence on the basketball court. Larry Bird is often considered amongst the basketball elites having lead the Boston Celtics to three titles. He’s also the last player to three-peat on MVPs.
Steve Nash, another multiple time MVP, was considered the best ball handler and one of the most creative folks on the court. While them being underrated might have something to do with race, Mike himself has faced some discrimination in the past.
Jordan was once a victim of racism
Michael Jordan opened up about the time he was thrown out of the swimming pool.
His pal David Bridgers said, “They saw Mike and threw us out. The rest of the bikeride he was very quiet. I asked him if he knew why they threw us out. He said ‘Yes.’ I asked him if it bothered him. He said ‘No.’ Then he just smiled. I’ll never forget it. He said “I get cooled off enough, how about you?”
Bridgers made it clear that MJ decided to take the high road and chose not to cause a ruckus. He told Davis that he was not bothered by the reason they threw him out of the pool.