Summary Of Magic Johnson And Larry Bird

In the book titled Race, Sports, and the American Dream, it discussed how sports helped change the place of African-American in society. “Sports was well segregated deep into the 20th century” (Smith 9). How college football looked in America in the 1950s was exactly how American society looked in the 1950s, segregated and racist. African-American athletes in college football helped fight and negate stereotypes because it showed that they are equally as good

For starters, Mandelbaum is very long winded his chapters go on forever. There are certain ideas that he can convey in 5 pages but instead, he chooses to do so in 15 pages. His writing style is so plain that it makes following the chapters that much harder. The information that Mandelbaum presents about in relation to the sports of baseball, football and basketball are good I just wish his chapters were shorter. Information can get lost quickly if there are 80 pages of information to read about one sport. Aside from that, I learned a lot from his chapter about basketball. In chronological order, Mandelbaum writes how the game of basketball shifted from a sport that was primarily white to primarily African American. The first African American player to enter the NBA was in 1950. By the 1980s four out of every five starting players in the league were black. Mandelbaum makes the argument that African Americans were needed in the league or else the game would not have been as developed as it is now. “The game as it developed would have been far poorer in every way without them” (Mandelbaum,248). The same time that the professional game was developing so too was the street game. In chapter 4 I learned about the “winner-take-all” market. According to investopedia.com, this is a concept in which the best performers are able to capture a very large share of the rewards, and the remaining competitors are left with very little.” The chances of most African American making it to the NBA is very slim, according to the book chances are 135,800 to

We do have memories to recall from our past – good and bad. From these memories brings a part of who we are in a diverse nation and a lesson that changes our lives forever. This is evident to Regelio Gomez' article entitled “Foul Shots”, that shares his memorable experience in playing basketball during his teenage years as both being his ghost and his teacher for almost 2 decades. His narration is a consequence of anyone who describes winning in the name of game or losing in the name of race.

In 1999, when this essay was published, something as simple as a cellphone was a revolution to the American people. Conversations anywhere with no wires involved! Wow! Looking back now, American seemed pretty simple in 1999. This is the same for Michael Jordan – once upon a time, Jordan was JUST a basketball player. LaFeber’s essay illustrates for us the rise of the young Jordan from his middle-class family in racist North Carolina through his college years and eventually into the NBA where he became an international sports icon. LaFeber tells the story of how Jordan caught the eye of Nike CEO Phil Knight and goes on to explain how Knight transformed Jordan into the face of a multi-billion dollar international corporation. LaFeber also fills us in on race and sports issues surrounding Jordan and how that played a part in Nike’s growth. LaFeber shows us how race effected middle-class Michael Jordan at a young age and how he was able to overcome this and grow into the star he is today.

Many dream of becoming an all-star. Having the movie-like transformation from being a lowly, small town boy and turning into a true legend. One of the few that lived this was Larry Bird. Larry would grow from a small town boy in Indiana to transforming and becoming one of the National Basketball Association’s, or NBA’s best players of all time. Through Larry Bird’s early life, his college years, his NBA glory and rivals, and his life post NBA all come into account when understanding the greatness of this true NBA legend.

The role of the family value system in influencing Black male athletes appears to be less important than that of White male athletes. Although the Black community makes up 12% of the collegiate population, only 3% of those have a Ph.D. and only 6.7% have a Bachelors degree, (Hu, 2004:1). The value system in African American families appears to be focused more on immediate gratification, rather than education, which seems to be a bigger value in White families. Basketball players White vs. Black have some goals to meeting in order to become successful in the sport of basketball. There are some influences that make some of the White and Black

The topic of race in sport, particularly African Americans in sport, has long been a controversial yet, widely discussed matter. Human and social issues are never easy subjects to discuss or debate, and racial differences tend to provoke very strong reactions. To begin, we will explore those whom claim that black athletes excel in sports as a result of their biological make up. Of all players in the NBA, more than 75% of them are black; of all players in the WNBA, more than 70% of them are black; of all players in the NFL, more than 65% of them are black (Hoenig, 2014). Evidently, black athletes make up a vast majority of these sports in the United States. Athletes must be of elite caliber to have the ability to play at this level, so this

The Boston Celtics had 29 wins the season before they drafted Bird. The team improved by 32 games to go 61-21 in Bird's first season. The main reason they won so many more games was because of Larry Bird. Bird was not just a shooter, he was also a great passer and rebounder too, which in turn made his teammates better as a whole. In his second year in the NBA, Bird and Celtics won the NBA Championship against the Houston Rockets. Larry Bird would go on to win two more championships with the Celtics. He would also win the Most Valuable Player award three times. This is what Larry Bird said after his second Most Valuable Player award, "While I was still trying to figure out how I could improve my game for the next season, I was notified that I had been selected as the league MVP for the second year in a row"(Bird and Ryan 153). Larry Bird after being in the league for seven years and winning two straight MVPs was still trying to find ways to get better. Bird proved that perseverance and dedication to the sport he loved would lead to a successful and rewarding

Michael Jordan and Larry Bird have a lot in common. Both were picked in the first round, both taller than 6 foot 3 inches, right handed have won more than 2 NBA titles, signed with a shoe deal. Both of their NBA debuts where in October but not the same year. 3 point FG% were over 30. FG% was over 49%.

The savior for the NBA emerged in the form of Danny Biasone, who instituted the 24-second shot clock that most agree, saved the league. The 1954-55 seasons was the first played with the shot clock, and the results were a more wide open style of play far more attractive to television viewers. The NBA has been selected for this study to determine how television coverage changed mass media coverage of basketball and the way the viewers perceived the game.

On May 6, 1999, Bill Russell, the man who redefineed the center by his unique shot-blocking, man-to-man defense and rebounding ability, and contributed to his team Celtics by his outstanding performance and remarkable leadership, finally attended his own retirement ceremony after 27 years of retirement. This great man in the history of American basketball refused to have a ceremony in 1972 in Boston, the city he perceived as the “racist city”, because of his concern of discrimination. On February 15th, 2011, Bill Russell received the Medal of Freedom from President Obama for his contribution to civil rights movement. Obama described him as “the man who stand up for the dignity of all men”. From being insulted, being refused in restaurants during tournaments, intimidating the world with his long arms and strong opinions, to challenging the politics of sports and fighting against racism, it has been a long way for Bill Russell, for American basketball, and for American society. Basketball, one of the major sports in America, presents the civil rights breakthrough both in professional games and in colleges. The book “King of the Courts: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution” by Aram Goudsouzian and “Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball” by Tom Graham, and Rachel Graham Cody, reveal the story of how two of the greatest players in the history of American basketball, broke the color barriers in basketball and foster the

The NBA received an A+ for racial hiring practices and a B+ for gender hiring practices with scores of 97.4 points (up from 96.4) and 88 points (up from 86.5), respectively. The overall grade was an A with 92.7 points, up from 90.9 in the 2014 race and gender report card (NBA, 2014). Using empirical evidence one would suggest that the National Basketball Association is not a diverse sport, and is dominated by African American Diversity in basketball. Well NBA is more diverse then you think, and the culture inspires that diversity. The NBA’s career opportunity’s Diversity & Inclusion statement mentions that “Basketball is a sport that transcends culture, race, language, gender and socio-economic levels, and one in which anyone, anywhere can learn, enjoy and play” (NBA, 2016). The statement is inclusive to all whether you want to watch, work, or play the game. The inclusive work culture results in productivity and recruiting a diverse workplace. Self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior. The power in Demography: Women 's social constructions of gender identity at work (Ely, 1995) also exhibit that as the percent of women in organization increases, women will be better off in the inclusion organization. This same study can be applied to other minority groups in an organization. The revenue of the NBA for the

By observing the New York Times writing patterns within their sports section, not only did the news promote heteronormative gender roles, but it also intensified white male privilege. Although we have acts to “protect” American citizens of color, these government attempts to dismantle racism and discrimination in America can only do so much. Many of the pieces that the New York Times posted oftentimes segregated black and white players by publishing separate articles and pictures according to the color of their skin. In America, many of our sports teams are composed of the black community. It is not uncommon for many sport business enterprises to exploit black athletes for profit (Anderson 1995). Many individuals who own sports teams, coaches, and administrators are predominately white and continue to earn billions in revenue from television and games (Farrington & Kilvington, 2012). We can see this exploitation occurring in NCAA college sports where these universities are composed of mostly white students but the sports teams recruit mostly black team mates (Anderson 1995). As a result, many of these students continuously practice and sacrifice their time to put towards their studies for an athletic career. Although many of these college players are valued for their physical strength and contributing victories to their school’s name, they still face harassment, discrimination, and segregation (Anderson 1995). This argument can be supported by one of the articles that The

Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are two of the most explosive players in the NBA today. Each player has his own playing style that separates him from the rest of the league. Both players have their own career achievements, endorsements, and personal life stories behind the game. If you ask anybody, the comparison between these two players is great. It is a never ending debate between who is better because both players have something different to bring to the table. Side by side on paper, both players seem dominant and may one day end up in the basketball hall of fame. But as individuals, side by side, each has a different but similar life.

“Basketball was once a game for the Irish and Italian Catholics in Rockaway and the Jewish on Fordham Road in the Bronx.” (Greenfield 210). Back in the beginnings of basketball ethnic names like Red Holzmans, Red Auerbach, and the McGuire Brothers were etched as stars of the NBA (Greenfield 210). But in the present names such Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson are a fixture of pro basketball with national television exposure and million dollar salaries. This is a far cry from the old school basketball of white men with status playing it for leisure. Greenfield and Wolf believe there is a question of style with today’s modern player.