Heard in the Cheap Seats

A recent article in ESPN The Magazine discussed the image problem faced by the NBA.  It was a fascinating article that warrants closer consideration.

Overwhelmingly, the NBA consistently ranked last in various public polls such as: “What league would you prefer your daughter marry a player from?” and “What is your general impression of each league?”  Dead last in virtually every poll.

This is an astonishing revelation.  The NBA is clearly facing an image crisis-but should it be?  The league certainly has had its fair share of problems (think: Kobe Bryant and the brawl at Auburn Hills) but the sheer number of incidences pale in comparison to the issues faced by the other two major professional sports leagues.  Major League Baseball is riddled with a drug problem with the two greatest players of this generation allegedly leading the charge.  In the NFL, drugs also run rampant.  Players like Pacman Jones and Michael Vick and scandals such as Spygate have left the league reeling.  So why then do we hold onto this belief that the NBA is a bunch of thugs?

The easy answer is race.  But it is not that simple.  The NFL has nearly the same ratio of black players as the NBA, yet it does not suffer from the same image problem.  So while the NBA’s image problem does stink of a general sentiment of racism in this country, it is not the sole factor.

Perhaps there is an issue of sociology at play here.  NFL players are our modern-day version of gladiators.  We tend to excuse their indiscretions and violent behavior because it is their nature-at least that’s what we tell ourselves.  In baseball, maybe we have become numb to the ongoing questions raised about the game.  The players have routinely turned their collective noses up at the sanctity of the game, yet we still flock to the ballparks in record numbers.

In the end, the NBA is unfairly suffering from an image crisis.  We’d be naïve to think that most of it is not predicated on race.  It is.  But it also has to do with the perceived “hip-hop culture” of the league.  Much of the public cannot identify with the players that favor rap music and baggy pants over country songs and suits.  And with no mask to hide behind like in the NFL, the public feels they know NBA players more intimately than their counterparts in other leagues.

What does it all boil down to?  As a whole, we have formed an unfair image of NBA players in our minds.  We are entitled to our own opinion, but it should not be shaped by mere speculation.  The facts are all professional sports leagues should be held to a certain standard.  Why then do we continue to ignore that the NBA has largely met that standard while the other two leagues have missed the mark?