>In one sense it's a pipeline issue because unlike on the
>player side, there aren't overwhelming numbers of black
>coaches with high-regard like there are for players. If most
>college and pro teams were white despite premiere high-school
>teams being made up of non-Whites there would be an obvious
>issue.

WTF does that even mean?



>Without a large number of 'ready', talented coaches, it's less
>of a sell to go to owners with a valid complaint that there is
>an uneven course to a head coach position relative to White
>coaches in similar situations.

again, wtf does that even mean?


>
>But we all know here that there are complications with that.
>
>Whether the actions are overt or just ingrained, White coaches
>tend to get more high-profile assistant jobs sooner than
>Blacks. That's just a reality that very basic research and
>analysis can unearth.
>
>Maybe the reason is that former White players feel that their
>days in basketball are over sooner than their Black
>counterparts and make a conscious effort to immerse themselves
>in coaching culture before their career is over in college to
>get a 'head start'.

That's definitely bullshit.

>Maybe the reason is simply White head
>coaches preferring to work with a coach that looks and thinks
>like they do and mentoring a Black coaching prospect is an
>endeavor that would eat up bandwidth that they feel is
>unnecessary.

again, wtf does that even mean?

>I can't say for sure. Neither way is explicitly wrong in a
>moral sense, but obviously the end result is negligibly
>different from the state the league was in decades ago and
>ought to change.
>
>There is also a hiring issue. I think Howard Beck mentioned
>that Black coaches tend to be hired on teams with poorer
>prospects than White head coaches. Fizdale was kind of an
>anomaly in that he was hired to coach a playoff team as his
>first job. Especially without being a high-profile player.
>
>It seems in order to be Black and get a good job, the coach
>has to have yield some influence and power and maybe earn the
>good graces of executives by being viewed as 'intelligent'
>like Doc, Kidd, and Derek Fisher were.
>
>While Doc ended up with a good job in Boston, he had to coach
>the hell out of those Orlando teams, and if memory serves me
>right, he got pushed out right at the time they got Dwight,
>right? Kidd and D. Fish got good jobs but they had solid
>reputations as heady players before they took on their
>coaching jobs.

Boston wasn't that good when Doc took over. Kidd and Fish didn't walk into good jobs either.


>There's also the culture of corporate America which these
>coaches must navigate and that culture has proven to be
>extremely difficult to survive unless a man of color tempers
>his demonstration of intense emotions. Doc and Pop yell, yes.
>But I can't even imagine Doc being able to rip into players
>like the first coaches mentioned, much less be rude to the
>press like they can be at times.

There is some truth here.
>
>But maybe the issue is that the problem is less odious as it
>has been.
>
>With NBA fans generally being more liberal than fans of other
>sports, there still might not be the motivation within the
>larger culture to activate the owners towards making overt
>actions towards inclusivity and welcome more men of color,
>women of color, and white women into positions of power on the
>executive and management level.
>
>Plus, with the culture still showing overt signs of racism,
>homophobia, xenophobia, and sexism there's a definite
>cross-section of the public that thinks all groups should be
>happy that they can vote and / or get married and get over
>everything else.
>
>If there were only one or two coaches who are people of color
>(haven't forgotten about you, Spo) then there's an obvious
>perception issue and the league might put pressure on teams
>behind the doors to advocate for Black head coaches.
>
>But with the numbers not riling up either fans or players, for
>that matter to speak out, there just isn't the political
>currency for anything to get done with respect to Black head
>coaches.
>
>As far as solutions, it might take an owner or GM to begin to
>rock the apple cart and begin to talk about the coaching ranks
>and the limitations of the current 'system' to allow for
>equity. It also might help if some White activist can frame
>civil rights in terms that doesn't always equate 'equality'
>with Whites handing over power rather than instead investing
>in partners who in time will help themselves and also be able
>to fully support Whites and be viewed with the respect that
>Whites offer themselves at times.
>
>I hoped to end this on a rosier note, but yeah. It's a bad
>situation that for whatever reason may not improve in the near
>future.
>
>