We can all be thankful for Rasheed Wallace. The Portland Trail Blazers' forward finally has ripped the ugly facade off the NBA and exposed it for what it is: an institution of slavery.
In a lengthy interview with the Portland Oregonian a few days ago, Wallace put forth the opinion that the NBA exploits young black players.
This season, Wallace is being exploited to the tune of $16.985 million, making him the fourth highest-paid, er, most-exploited, player in the league.
Now, lest you wonder what Wallace is smoking (and, besides, we have a pretty good idea what he's smoking, since he got busted for marijuana possession a year ago), or start thinking that you'd kill to be exploited to that extent, let's actually take a look at what Wallace said.
(It must be pointed out here that Wallace's diatribe was laced with a certain offensive racial term, which he used to describe himself and other African-American players. That word won't be used here.)
Wallace said:
"I ain't no (expletive) out here. I'm not like a whole bunch of these young boys out here who got caught up and captivated into the league."
Now, the dirty truth comes out: Giving a Humvee, a shiny new crib and all the jewelry and retro jerseys he can buy to an 18-year-old who has done little more than win a state high school championship is a form of slavery. No doubt, after Wallace's revelation, the next slave ship that docks at the NBA offices will be boarded by immigration officials, who will dispatch its human cargo back to whichever high school they were rudely yanked from.
Wallace continued:
"I see behind the lines. I see behind the false screens. I know what this business is all about. I know the commissioner of this league makes more than three-quarters of the players in this league."
NO! You mean David Stern, the guy widely credited for masterminding the emergence of the NBA as a huge box-office draw, is being paid like the CEO of a major corporation? Say it isn't so! And for that he's paid more than guys like Rick Brunson and Walter McCarty and, yes, even DeSagana Diop (though not as much as Wallace)? How can this be?
Read on:
"In my opinion, they just want to draft (racial epithet) who are dumb and dumber — straight out of high school. That's why they're drafting all these high school cats, because they come into the league and they don't know no better . . . They don't know the real business, and they don't see behind the charade."
Now, some folks — particularly African-Americans, those who teach in our high schools and anyone possessing a high-school diploma — might be offended by this passage. But remember, Wallace has seen behind the curtain, he knows that the Great Oz is just a little old guy with some fancy technology, that it's all just a giant con. He has come to the stark realization that teams aren't drafting players right out of high school because they can play, but because they are dumb enough to accept a contract for mere millions. What a scheme! (He should have pointed out the irony that most of the time, those high school players get back at their exploiters by not learning how to play until they've been in the league three or four years, at which time they are usually not with their original team. But we can't expect him to think of everything.)
More Wallace:
"They look at black athletes like we're dumb . . . It's as if we're just going to shut up, sign for the money and do what they tell us."
Unlike the rest of us out here in the workplace, who do exactly what we want to do, when we want to do it, and tell our bosses to take flying leaps if they so much as suggest that what we do isn't pleasing. Yep, all Wallace wants is what the rest of us are getting.
And who can blame him for that?
E-MAIL: rich@desnews.com