basketball

Sports Talk: An Overview of the NBA Season

Darius Taghizadeh

In a new video, Highbrow Magazine contributor Darius Taghizadeh chats about the 2022-2023 NBA season, and shares his opinions about important trades, players making their mark, and focuses on the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings, and the L.A. Lakers.  Watch the video below to hear Darius discuss highlights of the current season.

Warriors’ Move to San Francisco Highlights City’s Racist Past

Allen Jones

Warriors’ history in fact starts in Philadelphia. A maverick of a man, Mieuli – a flamboyant radio and television producer known for his full beard and preference for motorcycles – got together with some investors who together bought and brought the team west to San Francisco in 1962. Technically, the team’s home arena at the time was the “Cow Palace” in Daly City, a one-time venue for livestock expos built in 1941 just beyond the southern borders of San Francisco. 

How Racism Continues to Plague the NBA

Jamilah King

Levenson’s subtle racism is unlike Donald Sterling’s overt racism. Sterling showed outright contempt for black people at his games on top of a long history of employment and housing discrimination. Levenson, like Kareem Abdul-Jabar argues over at Time, is a businessman who seems to understand how racist perceptions of black fans are hurting his operation. His e-mail contains casually racist allusions (“few fathers and sons at the game”) and he doesn’t strongly condemn the racism that he’s accusing Atlanta’s white fans of. 

The Disappearance of the African-American Coach From Basketball

Stacy M. Brown

Like many, Ellerbe, 50, laments the glaring absence of African-American coaches in Division I basketball. Ellerbe stopped short of accusing anyone of racism and admits that a black coach today probably wouldn’t have to endure the bigotry faced by the legendary Thompson in the 1970s. However, when asked whether an old-boy network might be responsible for the dearth of African-American coaches, Ellerbe said the matter runs much deeper.

Donald T. Sterling, Ted Nugent, and the Rise of Racist Rants

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling is no aberration. On an audio recording that allegedly captures Sterling telling a girlfriend that he doesn’t want African-Americans at “my games” ignited a furor. But it’s part and parcel of an increasingly rotten and ugly saga that has become all too familiar in recent days. In quick succession, GOP rocker and pitchman Ted Nugent maligned President Obama as a “subhuman mongrel.

Cashing in on College Athletics

George White

The college athletes who generate revenue in all sports will be compensated for the first time in the 107-year history of the NCAA if O’Bannon wins his lawsuit (O’Bannon vs. NCAA). The litigation is in the spotlight again, because the case is expected to go to court in June, and because more and more media commentators, scholars and law professors are siding with the athletes and calling for reforms.

The 2013-2014 NBA Season: A Few Thoughts for Opening Week

Steven J. Chandler

The Heat, a team made up of three of the league’s stars (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- the latter players, however, have certainly shined brighter in past seasons), one of the better shooters in the league (Ray Allen), and interchangeable spare parts, are again odds-on favorites to win the NBA finals for a third year in a row. The prediction is appropriate. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that James is the best player in the world. 

New York vs. Chicago: Rating the Charms of the Big Apple and the Windy City

Beth Kaiserman

Two cities. One a thriving metropolis of Midwestern opportunity, the other a concrete nexus of humanity searching for answers. Chicago and New York City. Both bustling with young people full of hopes and dreams. Both attracting hoards of newcomers eager to drink craft beers in the “up-and-coming” neighborhoods on the outskirts of downtown. But each city boasts its own charms, and at least one reason why its born-and-bred citizens won’t call anywhere else home.

Jumping on the Jeremy Lin Bandwagon

Ky Phong Paul Tran

After resuscitating the carcass of the New York Knicks in his last few games , the Jeremy Lin bandwagon is looking more like a cargo ship. But rooting for him now is about as timely as just telling someone about these amazing Korean tacos (Kogi Truck) or Japanese-inspired burgers (Umami). You’re so 2000-and-late. In a league that has seen a number of Chinese forwards and centers, it was difficult for the basketball powers-that-be to imagine that an Asian guy could play guard. 

Subscribe to RSS - basketball